met ice of Mental 
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R§neDe Maumiqnm SJ. 



Extraordmaru Prauer 



Class 








Book .\Aaz,_ 



Gopyright^°._I^l.l^_ 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSm 



THE PRACTICE OF 
MENTAL PRAYER 



BY 

FATHER RENE DE MAUMIGNY 

of the Society of Jesus 
SECOND TREATISE 

Cxtranrtrtnarg 3Prag?r 



Translated from the Fourth Edition with the Author's 
corrections and additions. 



TRANSLATION REVISED BY 

FATHER ELDER MULLAN, S.J. 



P. J. KENEDY & SONS 

Printers to the Holy Apostolic See 
44 BARCLAY STREET, NEW YORK 



Concedimus facultatem ut liber cui titulus: "The Practice of Mental 
Prayer, by Father Ren6 de Maumigny, of the Society of Jesus, 
Second Treatise, Extraordinary Prayer : Translated from the Tourth 
Edition with the Author's corrections and additions, translation revised 
by Father Elder Mullan, S.J." Publici juris fiat, si iis ad quos 
pertinet videbitur, 

JOSEPH F. HANSELMAN, S.J. 

Proep. Prov. Mary I. Neo-Ebor, 



Wifjti #ijstat 



Xmprtmatur 



imprimatur 



REMIGIUS LAFORT, 

Censor Deputatus. 



►!« JOANNES GARDINAL FARLEY, 

Archiep. Neo-Ebor. 



Fr. ALBERTUS LEPIDI, O.P., 

S.P.A. Magister. 



imprimatur 



^JOSEPH CEPPETELLI, Patriarch. Const., 

Vicesgerens 




Copyright, 1915, by P. • Kenedy & Sons 



DEC 30 1915 

©CI.A420101 



PREFACE 



For some years, cases regarding extraor- 
dinary prayer have often been laid before 
me and I have thought Christian charity 
entailed upon me the duty of giving my 
humble opinion, in spite of the difficulty of 
the subject. But in these lofty paths a single 
answer is generally not enough, , and I have 
been asked to supplement these individual 
counsels by a treatise on infused Contemp- 
lation. I will say nothing more as to the 
origin of this work, because this is enough 
to indicate its spirit. It is not a theological, 
but a practical treatise that I have in mind, 
and I have avoided as far as possible any- 
thing which might give rise to controversy. 

The treatise is divided into five parts. 

Part i speaks of the nature and degrees of 
Contemplation, but only so far as to give 
the necessary ideas to directors for the guid- 
ance of souls. I have inserted lengthy cita- 

3 



4 PREFACE 

tions from the writings of the Saints. Doubt- 
less a few lines from an author would some- 
times have been enough to prove the point 
at issue, yet I have believed it very useful to 
quote several pages. These passages, indeed, 
in their all-heavenly beauty if quoted in part 
might have stirred hearts but little to the love 
of God; but reproduced in their entirety, 
they afford souls a spiritual food well calcu- 
lated to sanctify them, as Holy Church says 
in the prayer for St. Teresa's feast. 

Part 2 shows the great trials to which souls 
raised to Contemplation are sooner or later 
subjected. It is upon this point that I have 
been most often consulted and consequently 
I have been obliged to develop it rather at 
length. I hope these pages, written with 
bruised hearts rather than written books 
before my eyes, will bring some comfort to 
the afflicted souls who read them. 

The subject of Part 3 is the virtues neces- 
sary to contemplative souls. This part is of 
supreme importance, since the greater number 
of souls who are raised to Contemplation and 
who make only indifferent progress in it, 
must attribute it to the absence of solid vir- 
tues. 



PREFACE 5 

Part 4 treats of supernatural visions and 
speech. Here illusion is easy and I have been 
obliged to dwell at length upon the discern- 
ment of spirits. 

Lastly, the subject of Part 5 is the vocation 
to infused Contemplation. The importance 
of this question is obvious : in order to reach 
the goal, it is not enough to run, but the run- 
ning must be along the path leading to the 
goal. 

The sources from which I have drawn are 
Holy Writ, the lives and writings of the Saints, 
and the experience gained from the numerous 
cases laid before me. I have avoided citing 
particular instances of the wonderful oper- 
ation of the Holy Ghost in souls, for on this 
point discretion is of the highest importance. 

May this humble work, composed for the 
spiritual good of the generous souls who have 
begged me for it, teach them how, having 
received much from God, they may render 
Him much in return. 

I dedicate these pages to the Sacred Heart 
of Jesus, the blessed Source of all grace, and 
I humbly beg Him so to vivify them that they 
may produce abundant fruits of sanctity. 



CONTENTS 



PAGE 

Preface 3 

PART I 

Nature and Degrees of Extraordinary Prayer 

CHAPTE-R 

I. There are two Kinds of Mental Prayer: Ordi- 
nary and Extraordinary 13 

II. Supernatural Recollection 18 

III. Difference between Supernatural Recollection 

and Affective Prayer 2$ 

IV. First Characteristic of Contemplation: Faith is 

Rendered Perfect in it by the Gift of Wisdom, 
which the Holy Ghost Showers upon the Soul . 26 
V. Second Characteristic of Contemplation: It is 

the Soul's Simple and Loving Gaze upon God . 3 1 
VI. Third Characteristic of Contemplation: The 
Soul there Learns to Know God by Experi- 
ence, by means of the Five Spiritual Senses 
Rendered Wonderfully Perfect by the Gift of 

Wisdom 35 

VII. Fourth Characteristic of Contemplation: The 
Soul Feels no Fatigue, but in Profound Peace 
Drinks Deep of the Living Waters of Wisdom 

and Love 42 

VIII. Fifth Characteristic of Contemplation: The 
Powers of the Soul are Suspended by Admira- 
tion and Love 46 

7 



8 CONTENTS 

CHAPTER PAGE 

IX. Sixth Characteristic of Contemplation: It Is 

the Beginning of Everlasting Beatitude 50 

X. Definition of Contemplation 55 

XI. Difference between Infused Contemplation and 
the Active Contemplation of St. Ignatius 's 

Exercises 58 

XII. How there are Two kinds of Contemplation, One 

Perfect, and the Other Imperfect 62 

XIII. First Degree of Imperfect Contemplation: 

Prayer of Quiet 68 

XIV. The Other Degree of Imperfect Contemplation: 

Spiritual Intoxication 73 

XV. First Degree of Perfect Contemplation: Simple 

Union 76 

XVI. Second Degree of Perfect Contemplation: Ec- 
static Union or Spiritual Betrothal 82 

XVII. Consummated Union or Spiritual Marriage .... 94 

XVIII. The Wounds Caused by Love 101 

XIX. God's Works may be the Object of Infused Con- 
templation 107 

PART II 

The Various Trials through which Souls Called to Contem- 
plation Must Pass 

I. Penetrating Sight of One's Sins. Feeling of having 

been Abandoned by God 117 

II. Second Trial: Spiritual Aridity 127 

III. Third Trial: Temptations of the Devil 131 

IV. Fourth Trial: Doubt as to the Truth of the Super- 
natural Graces Received 136 

V. Fifth Trial: A Mysterious Suffering in which Joy 
and Pain are both United and where the Soul is 
Purified as in a Purgatory 139 



CONTENTS 



VI. A Few Words on the " Soul's Dark Night " by St. 

John of the Cross 148 



PART III 

The Virtues and Devotions at which a Soul Must Labor 
if It Wishes to Make Serious Progress in Contem- 
plation 

I. In General, the Soul which is called to Contemplation 
must Give Itself to the Study and Practice of 
Solid Virtues 157 

II. The Soul Called to Contemplation must Keep Itself 

entirely Free from Attachment to Creatures 167 

III. The Soul Called to Contemplation and which 
Wishes to make Real Progress in it, must Strive 
after Intimate Union with Jesus Christ Crucified . 172 

IV. The Soul Called to Contemplation and which Wishes 
to Make Real Progress in it, must have a Special 
Devotion to the Holy Eucharist 181 

V. The End which God has in view in Raising a Soul to 
Perfect Contemplation is not only to Lead it to 
to the Divine Union, but further to Give it 
Courage to Work and Suffer much for His Glory 187 

PART IV 

Supernatural Visions and Speech 

I. Supernatural Visions and Speech: Their Nature 

and Different Classes 197 

II. The Precautions to be taken before Placing Faith in 

Supernatural Visions and Speech 200 



10 CONTENTS 



III. Five Ways in which God Speaks Supernaturally to 

Souls, and how they should Receive these Ex- 
traordinary Favors 217 

IV. St. Ignatius' Rule for Avoiding Illusions in the 

Use of Supernatural Speech 226 



PART V 

Vocation to Extraordinary Graces 

I. Contemplation is not the only Means of Attaining 

Christian Perfection 235 

II. Contemplation Requires a Special Vocation, which 
the greater number of Souls who make Mental 
Prayer do not Possess 242 

III. By what Signs may it be Recognized that a Soul is 

Called to Contemplation? 252 

IV. How the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius are a 

Preparation for Infused Contemplation 256 

V. To what Extent may Extraordinary Graces be 

Desired? 261 

VI. To what Extent is the Reading of Books treating 
of Extraordinary States to be Allowed to Pious 

Souls? 270 

VII. What is to be the Conduct of a Soul Raised to Con- 
templation when making a Private Retreat?. . 274 
VIII. What Share should Religious Raised to Con- 
templation take in General Retreats? 281 



PART I 
jSature anb ©egrog of Cxtraorbmarp draper 



CHAPTER I 

THERE ARE TWO KINDS OF MENTAL FRAYER: 
ORDINARY AND EXTRAORDINARY 

There are two kinds of mental prayer: 
one, the more usual and within the power of 
all devout souls; the other, the lot of a few 
privileged souls and to be attributed less to 
themselves than to the Holy Ghost. 

The more common form admits of methods ; 
not so the other, though those whom God has 
called to it need careful direction, calculated 
to dispel the obstacles to grace. The first 
demands much work and is more or less of the 
nature of the labors of this world; the second 
is made without effort and is a foretaste of 
the rest to be enjoyed in Heaven. 

These two kinds of prayer have received 
different names, which must be known if the 
works of the Saints and other spiritual writers 
are to be understood. 

i . The first kind of prayer is called ordinary 
because it is made by the help of that grace 
which God refuses to none ; the second, extraor- 
dinary, because it is made by means of a 

13 



14 PRACTICE OF MENTAL PRAYER 

special grace which God grants but to few. 
Just as an unfledged bird cannot rise up into 
the air, however much it tries, so it is impos- 
sible for the soul which has not received the 
gift of extraordinary prayer from the Holy 
Ghost to attain it by its own efforts and the 
help of common grace. 

2. The first kind of prayer is called natural, 
and indeed, although grace raises nature to 
this stage, nature Still preserves her character- 
istic way of acting. The intellect thus reflects 
on a spiritual in the same way as on a scien- 
tific, truth, and love of God is testified in the 
same way as affection towards a father or 
a friend. 

The second kind of prayer is called super- 
natural because grace so elevates nature that 
the soul knows and loves in a way superior to 
the ordinary way of knowing and loving — so 
the Saints, taught by personal experience, 
affirm unanimously. 

3. The first kind of prayer is called active 
because effort is made to gain light for the 
intellect and fervor for the will by means of 
distinct acts, demanding more or less work. 
As opposed to this, the second kind of prayer 
is called passive or infused, since instead of 



NATURE OF PRAYER 15 

light and love being sought in distinct acts, 
they are received directly from God, not how- 
ever to the exclusion of the soul's cooperation. 
In this sense St. Dionysius says of his master 
Hierotheus that ' ' he suffered divine things." 1 

4. Ordinary prayer is called Meditation 
because the truth is then sought by means 
of reasoning and reflection. Extraordinary 
prayer is called Contemplation because then 
there is no process of reasoning, but the truth 
is known by intuition. It is most imperative 
that this passive or extraordinary contempla- 
tion should be distinguished from the active 
or ordinary contemplation which has been 
spoken of in the first treatise. 2 In future when 
the word Contemplation is used, unless other- 
wise stated, passive or extraordinary con- 
templation is to be always understood, in 
accordance with the phraseology used by all 
the Saints and spiritual writers when treating 
of that kind of prayer which occupies our 
attention here. 

In conclusion, in extraordinary prayer God 
sheds upon the soul such a simple knowledge 
and pure love as it would be impossible to 

1 De divinis nominibus, c. 2. 

2 Ordinary Prayer, Part 5, ch. 1. 



16 PRACTICE OF MENTAL PRAYER 

gain by means of ordinary grace. The Holy 
Ghost effects this wonder through the gift 
of wisdom, which, according to St. Bonaven- 
ture, is " like a sun shining with knowledge 
and burning with charity." x 

Extraordinary prayer is composed of three 
main divisions: 

i. Supernatural Recollection, where the 
knowledge and love are not sufficiently intense 
to suspend the powers of the soul, whose action 
remains free. 

2. Contemplation, where the superabun- 
dance of knowledge and ove ravishes, at least 
partially, the intellect and will. 

3. Consummate union, where these powers 
regain full liberty of action. This change 
results not from the knowledge and love being 
any less great than in Contemplation ; on 
the contrary, they are much more intense, but 
the Holy Ghost so strengthens the soul that 
incomparable floods of light and love could 
not absorb it n the slightest. 

The reader must not be astonished if the 
same word " Contemplation " be used with 
two different meanings: first, as a synonym 
for extraordinary prayer, and later on, to 

1 Dt Dono Sapkntiae, C. 4, Vol. 7, p. 639. 



NATURE OF PRAYER 17 

denote one of the three main divisions of this 
same kind of prayer. This is constantly done 
by the Saints and masters of the spiritual life 
in their writings, the context showing how the 
word " Contemplation " is to be interpreted. 
Such anomalies, besides, are not uncommon 
in spiritual books. For instance the word 
" prayer " is taken sometimes to mean mental 
prayer in general; at others, in a more partic- 
ular sense, the petition for graces helpful for 
salvation. 



18 PRACTICE OF MENTAL PRAYER 



CHAPTER II 

SUPERNATURAL RECOLLECTION 

Supernatural Recollection forms part 
of extraordinary prayer, for we cannot attain 
it, even in an elementary degree, by means of 
ordinary grace alone; the assistance of the 
Holy Ghost is required, shedding upon the 
soul the life-giving waters of wisdom, the 
highest of His gifts. Then the soul begins to 
receive direct from God the light and love 
which were previously obtained by distinct 
acts of the intellect and will, the passive replac- 
ing the active. Then, again, the soul enters 
on a new knowledge and love of God, found in 
a wonderfully simple and loving attention to 
God, which causes the soul to feel consumed 
by love. Then, finally, the soul is filled with 
peace, a foretaste of eternal rest. 

The soul's happiness does not, however, go 
so far as rapture, even partial, the total or 
partial suspension of the powers being reserved 
for Contemplation, where wisdom is showered 
upon the soul much more abundantly. Since 



NATURE OF PRAYER 19 

the intellect, will and memory remain free, 
to restrain their activity would be tempt- 
ing God and exposing oneself to many a dis- 
traction. 

Saint Teresa says: " When God raises the 
soul to this prayer, then, according to the 
advice of certain writers, it may doubtless 
rest content in listening to God's voice and, 
without entering into any reasoning with the 
understanding, remain attentive to God and 
regard Him working within it. But unless 
Our Lord has caused the soul to pass from 
recollection to Contemplation, I cannot under- 
stand how the reasoning of the understanding 
can be stopped without more harm than 
good resulting. Yet this question has been 
much discussed by persons concerned with 
the spiritual life, some of whom hold the 
contrary opinion. . . . One of these referred 
me to a treatise of Blessed Fr. Peter of Alcan- 
tara. As I hold him a saint and know what 
light he had on this subject, I would willingly 
have submitted to his authority. But having 
read the book, we found that this holy man said 
exactly the same thing as I. His explanation, 
it is true, is expressed in different words, but it 
is clear, for he expressly says so, that the soul 



20 PRACTICE OF MENTAL PRAYER 

should only check the reasoning of the under- 
standing when God has raised it to a higher 
kind of prayer and keeps it united to Himself 
by love. . . . Let us be careful not to remain 
foolishly inactive, for all that^is left to the soul 
which suppresses the acts of the intellect is the 
shame for its foolish attempt and much greater 
dryness; its imagination only becomes more 
unruly in its violent effort to think of nothing. 
• . . There is nothing more pleasing to God 
than to see us busied with the thought of His 
honor and glory, forgetful of our advantage 
and pleasure. Now, how can this forgetful- 
ness of self exist in one who is paying so much 
attention to himself that he dares not stir? 
And how can he rejoice at God's glory and 
wish for its increase when he is only thinking 
of checking the activity of his understanding? 
. . . Since God has given us the powers of 
the soul to use and since the effort made by 
each has its reward, instead of holding them 
prisoners by a kind of enchantment, let us 
allow them to freely fulfil their usual function 
until God sees fit to confer a higher one upon 
them." 1 

But the contrary excess must be avoided, 

1 Chdteau interieur, 4 e demeure, ch. 3, t. 3, pp. 368-371. 



NATURE OF PRAYER 21 

namely such zealous activity that the peace 
and sweetness due to God's loving gaze are 
stifled. This would be depriving the soul of 
a spiritual food which strengthens it in a 
wonderful way. 

To conclude, the principle which is to govern 
all in this kind of prayer is, that above all, 
the repose which the soul enjoys in the general 
and loving knowledge of God must not be 
disturbed in any way; yet, on the other hand, 
the powers should not be kept inactive, since 
they remain free to act. So then, if the soul 
finds more spiritual pleasure in making only 
acts of the affections, let the reflections be 
omitted, and if it finds more fruit in God's 
loving look alone, let it omit not only the reflec- 
tions, but even the distinct affections. 

The soul then feels consumed with love, 
in the midst of an undefined view of its Cre- 
ator. Let it not lament the loss of the spirit- 
ual fruit previously gained by distinct con- 
siderations and affections, for all that is 
written in books, however sublime, of the 
Divine attributes pales before what the soul 
understands and experiences in God Himself. 
As to the will, it loves the one and only good, 
including in itself all other good, and yet this 



22 PRACTICE OF MENTAL PRAYER 

one act of general love includes much more 
than all the other distinct acts of the affections 
which it could make. Supernatural Recollec- 
tion is the vestibule of Contemplation. 



NATURE OF PRAYER 23 



CHAPTER III 

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SUPERNATURAL REC- 
OLLECTION AND AFFECTIVE PRAYER 

It seems at first as though there would be 
no difference between Supernatural Recollec- 
tion and Affective Prayer, and indeed there 
are three characteristics common to both: a 
pure, sweet love of God, the numerous affec- 
tions which accompany such love, and the 
absence of fatigue. 

And yet these two kinds of prayer are essen- 
tially distinct, especially in the four following 
points : 

i. In Supernatural Recollection, the pure 
sweet love of God is poured upon the soul by 
the Holy Ghost. It belongs, then, to the 
passive order. In Affective Prayer, this love 
is acquired by more or less numerous acts 
made by the intellect and the will, aided by 
the Holy Ghost. It belongs thus to the actiie 
order. 

2. The special grace of Affective Prayer 
does not go so far as to enable the soul to make 
essentially new acts, but allows it to make 



24 PRACTICE OF MENTAL PRAYER 

with ease and wonderful sweetness, acts of 
the affections already made. The grace of 
Supernatural Recollection is entirely different, 
for it raises the soul to essentially new 
forms of activity, which St. Bernard calls 
angelic rather than human. 

3. In Supernatural Recollection there is no 
essential beyond an indistinct yet loving view 
of God, in which the soul feels consumed with 
love: the distinct reflections and affections 
which sometimes occur are supplementary. 
A comparison will make this clearer: When 
the day is drawing to a close, we are obliged to 
light the lamps, but the powerful light of the 
sun, reflected in the vast expanse of the 
heavens, still surpasses these artificial lights. 
In the same way, in Supernatural Recollec- 
tion there is sometimes need to have recourse 
to repeated reflections and affections in order to 
banish distractions, but these are only supple- 
mentary and accessory acts, above which lies 
the pure sky of a general and loving attention 
to God. Manifold acts of the affections, on 
the other hand, are the very essence of Affect- 
ive Prayer. 

4. In Supernatural Recollection the soul 
enjoys so profound a peace and so sweet a joy 



NATURE OF PRAYER 25 

that it feels it has found true happiness. 
There is nothing of this in Affective Prayer. 
Here the soul enjoys an exceptional happiness 
and rest, it is true, but at the same time it 
feels that in this method there will always be 
something to be desired. 

The part played by Supernatural Recollec- 
tion in extraordinary prayer is considerable. 
In the first place, it is the first sure sign by 
which it may be recognized that a soul is 
called to contemplation and should in future 
hold a more elevated converse with God. It 
is, too, the method of prayer usual among 
contemplative souls: they cannot long main- 
tain the heights of contemplation and are 
forced to return to a more modest kind of 
prayer. 



26 PRACTICE OF MENTAL PRAYER 



CHAPTER IV 

FIRST CHARACTERISTIC OF CONTEMPLATION: 
FAITH IS RENDERED PERFECT IN IT BY THE 
GIFT OF WISDOM, WHICH THE HOLY GHOST 
SHOWERS UPON THE SOUL 

" We see now through a glass in ar dark 
manner, but then face to face," x says the 
Apostle. In Contemplation the mirror, that 
is, the spiritual image by means of which we 
know God here below, does not disappear and 
give place to the sight of Him face to face, but 
His image becomes much more perfect. The 
enigma, that is, the obscurity of faith, does not 
cease to exist, but the light becomes more 
intense. Since the image and obscurity 
remain, this knowledge too remains a knowl- 
edge of faith; but since the image is more 
perfect and the light more intense, it is a 
more elevated kind of faith. 

This elevation of faith is due to the gift of 
wisdom, the highest of the gifts of the Holy 
Ghost. However, the degree of wisdom com- 
mon to all souls in a state of grace, is not 

1 1 Cor. 13: 12. 



NATURE OF PRAYER 27 

sufficient to perfect faith in this wonderful 
way. A more eminent degree is required, 
which God grants to certain privileged souls, 
called contemplatives. 

Let us listen to what St. Thomas says: 
"The contemplation which renders faith use- 
less is that of glory. Thanks to this con- 
templation, supernatural truth is seen in its 
essence. Neither the Angels before their con- 
firmation in grace, nor man before he had 
committed sin had this power of contempla- 
tion; and yet their contemplation was more 
elevated in nature than ours. By its means 
they approached nearer to God and were able 
to understand more clearly than we, God's 
doings and the mysteries connected with Him. 
Their faith, then, was not like that by means 
of which we seek for God, for He was more 
nearly present to them than to us by virtue 
of the light of wisdom." l 

This faith, which belongs to the state of 
innocence, did not disappear entirely after the 
Fall, but became the heritage of those souls 
who are called by a special favor to Con- 
templation. 

It is by means of this faith, thus wonder- 

l 2 a 2 ae , q. 5, a. I, ad I. 



28 PRACTICE OF MENTAL PRAYER 

fully illuminated by the gift of wisdom, that 
uneducated men, such as St. Paschal Baylon, 1 
have been able to answer the most difficult 
theological questions and even to write admir- 
ably on theology. It was this faith that, in 
the case of St. Ignatius, shed such vivid light 
on the divine mysteries that he felt ready to 
lay down his life in their defense. 2 

St. John of the Cross has devoted the 
twelfth stanza of his Spiritual Canticles to a 
description of the excellence of this kind of 
faith, which is, as it were, a thin veil through 
which the greatness and infinite beauty of the 
Creator may be seen: " Faith," he says, " is 
become so illuminated and transparent that 
some of the wonderful traits of God's greatness 
may be perceived. . . . The soul experiences 
an absorbing desire to be united to its spouse, 
and having recognized the absolute power- 
lessness of creatures to help it to this end, it 
has recourse to faith, which alone can throw 
true light on its Beloved, choosing faith as the 
means by which it may attain this blessed 
union. . . . The soul expresses its consum- 
ing desire in verses whose meaning is > O faith 
of Jesus Christ, my Spouse, thou art the 

1 Breviary, 17 May. 2 Ibid., 31 July. 



NATURE OF PRAYER 29 

possessor of truth in this dark life. Reveal 
to me those truths relating to my Beloved 
which thou hast placed in my soul, but veiled 
by thy mysterious shades. Ah ! if, instead of 
imparting them to me in a vague and hidden 
manner, thou wouldst but show them to me 
in all the brightness and entirety of their 
perfection! Thou art the veil which covers 
them. Would to God that thou might est be 
withdrawn and I be allowed to contemplate 
and possess them in the full and perfect 
manifestation of glory! . . . How to im- 
agine the burning desire, the intense pain 
which tortures the soul when, about to enjoy 
its Sovereign Good, that Good is taken from 
it? The nearer we see the object of our desires 
the more it seems adapted to our grasp, the 
more cruel and unbearable the anguish which 
we experience when that object is denied to 
us." 1 

Yes, faith perfected in wisdom becomes 
sometimes so illuminated that the soul can do 
nothing but languish in the desire of seeing 
the transparent veil, which separates it from 
God, withdrawn. 

" In a word, how do you think, Theotimus, M 

1 Cantiques Spirituels, str. 12, t. 4, pp. 120, 121, 122, 130. 



30 PRACTICE OF MENTAL PRAYER 

says St. Francis of Sales, " that the soul which 
has once tasted a divine consolation to the full, 
can live in this world surrounded by so many 
miseries without experiencing almost perpet- 
ual pain and languor? That wonderful ser- 
vant of God, Francis Xavier, was often heard 
raising his voice to Heaven, when he thought 
he was quite alone: 'Alas, Lord, do not, I 
beg, overwhelm me by such a flood of con- 
solation, or, if in Thy infinite bounty Thou 
wishest to thus surround me with delight, 
take me to Paradise, for he who has once 
tasted Thy sweetness in his soul, must live in 
bitterness when he is not enjoying Thee/ " l 

Such, too, was the interior martyrdom 
endured by St. Teresa, when she cried: " I 
live but rapt out of myself. I await such 
high life in God that I am dying for not 
dying." 2 

1 Amour de Dieu, i. 6, ch. 15, t. 4, p. 361 — Tursellinus, Vita 
S. Fr. Xav., 1. 6, c. 5. 

2 Cantique, t. 2, p. 569. 



NATURE OF PRAYER 31 



CHAPTER V 

SECOND CHARACTERISTIC OF CONTEMPLATION: 
IT IS THE SOUL'S SIMPLE AND LOVING GAZE 
UPON GOD 

Contemplation is not made by reasoning, 
that is, by a sequence of judgments deduced 
one from the other: it is that simple gaze of 
the intelligence which is called intuition. 
" Contemplation," says St. Thomas, " belongs 
to the simple intuition of truth." l 

Let us try to explain this second charac- 
teristic by a comparison, though a very im- 
perfect one. An artist goes by night to the 
Vatican to study Raphael's " Transfigura- 
tion." As he has only a feeble light, he spends 
several hours in moving the lamp from one 
part to another, so as to make its light fall 
at one time on Our Lord's face and His gar- 
ments, at another on Moses and Elias. But 
directly morning has come and the sun's rays 
light up the room, he sees immediately at a 
glance what he has seen piece by piece and 
by successive examinations. 

1 2 a 2 ae , q. i88, art. 3, ad 1. 



32 PRACTICE OF MENTAL PRAYER 

In the same way, he who meditates on God's 
infinite perfection considers in turn His Al- 
mighty Wisdom, Power, Justice, Mercy and 
so on. But when a ray of God's Wisdom 
comes from heaven, all is instantly changed. 
Meditation gives place to Contemplation, and 
intuition, which comprises all the preceding 
considerations in an eminent degree, takes 
the place of reasoning. 

In Contemplation, the general view of God 
is confused, it is true, for God is only seen 
as a Being incomprehensible in His nature, 
Whose wisdom is unfathomable in its depths, 
Whose excellence is inaccessible in its heights, 
Whose charity is without bounds, Whose 
eternity is without limit, Whose essence is 
at once infinitely clear and obscure, and about 
which, the more one knows, the more one 
understands that there still remains infinitely 
more to know. 1 But this in no way detracts 
from the preeminence of Contemplation over 
Meditation. The confused view that results 
from looking at the sea gives a much better 
idea of the power of its waters than the dis- 
tinct view of the rivers flowing into it. It is 

1 Cf. Alvarez de Paz, i. 5, p. 3, c. 1. Moguntiae, 1619, t. 3. p. 
1754. 



NATURE OF PRAYER 33 

the same in prayer : the confused view of God's 
perfection, as obtained from Contemplation, 
gives a much higher idea of His infinite excel- 
lence than the distinct view of His attributes 
gained from Meditation. 

Contemplation is, then, in the first place, 
a simple and prolonged gaze upon God ; it is 
also and always a loving gaze, that is, the 
soul's spiritual eye is fixed on its divine Object 
not only because of its infinite beauty, but 
also on account of the love with which this 
Object inflames it. See this little child, so 
attractive by reason of its charming face. 
Its mother spends hours looking at it, doubt- 
less because of the beauty of its features, but 
also and more especially, because she loves it. 
So it is with the soul and God in Contempla- 
tion. 

" The sensitive or intellectual appetite," 
says St. Thomas, " is moved to consider an 
object sometimes on account of the love felt 
for the object itself, as St. Matthew says: 
1 Where thy treasure is, there is thy heart 
also ; ' * sometimes on account of the love 
of knowledge itself, which results from the 
consideration. It is for this reason that St. 

l 2 Matth. 6: 21. 



34 PRACTICE OF MENTAL PRAYER 

Gregory places the contemplative life in 
charity, in the sense that the love of God 
produces the burning desire of contemplating 
His beauty." 

Later on, the holy Doctor comes back to 
the same idea, saying: " Although the seat of 
the contemplative life is essentially the intel- 
lect, it has, however, its origin in the affection 
in the sense that one is moved by charity to 
contemplate God.' ' x 

In short, in infused Contemplation the Holy 
Ghost never sheds light upon the intellect 
without also enkindling the fire of love in the 
will, with the result that one is never satiated 
with gazing upon God, not only on account 
of His inexpressible beauty, but also because 
the love one bears Him stirs one to con- 
template Him. If, then, in prayer, the knowl- 
edge of God is not, as it were, ingulfed in an 
ocean of love and consequently all inflamed 
with charity, there may still be lights of great 
value for instructing the soul and for direct- 
ing it in the way of perfection, but on the 
other hand there is nothing of inspired Con- 
templation about it. 

1 2 a 2 ae , q. 180, a. 7, ad I. 



NATURE OF PRAYER 35 



CHAPTER VI 

THIRD CHARACTERISTIC OF CONTEMPLATION: 
THE SOUL THERE LEARNS TO KNOW GOD BY 
EXPERIENCE, BY MEANS OF THE FIVE SPIRIT- 
UAL SENSES RENDERED WONDERFULLY PER- 
FECT BY THE GIFT OF WISDOM 

In the treatise on Ordinary Prayer, 1 it has 
been seen that, in addition to the five ex- 
ternal senses and the five internal senses of 
the imagination, the soul also possesses five 
spiritual senses. These latter are nothing but 
the intellect and the will learning to know and 
enjoy the spiritual in a way akin to that in 
which the senses of the body learn to know 
and enjoy the material. 

The same gift of wisdom, besides marvel- 
lously perfecting faith and charity in Con- 
templation, raises the spiritual senses until 
it allows them to learn to know God by experi- 
ence. 

But what is to be understood precisely by 
this experimental knowledge? St. Bonaven- 
ture thus explains it: " Even though all man- 

1 Ordinary Prayer*J?a,rt 5, c. 3. 



36 PRACTICE OF MENTAL PRAYER 

kind told me that such a thing is sweet, I 
should not gain an experimental knowledge of 
it, whatever proofs might be brought forward, 
but I could only form an opinion about it, or 
believe it, or know about it. But if my taste 
touches some object or is touched by it, then 
I have an experimental knowledge of it. It 
is the same with the internal taste and other 
spiritual senses. If I read or hear it said that 
the Lord is sweet, I have not in consequence 
an experimental knowledge, unless my spirit- 
ual taste be affected by the divine sweetness 
and I can say with the spouse: His fruit is 
sweet to my mouth." x 

The question of the experimental knowl- 
edge of God is most important in the study 
of Contemplation, and therefore it is neces- 
sary to prove its existence. Reason, evi- 
dently, teaches nothing on this point. As to 
Holy Writ, it is true that it speaks of the 
spiritual senses, as for instance when it says: 
" O taste and see that the Lord is sweet ;" 2 
but this agreeableness is also met in marked 
consolation of the usual order, and no con- 

1 De septem itineribus ceternitatis, De sexto itinere, dist. i. t. 
8, p. 464. 
2 Ps. 33:9. 



NATURE OF PRAYER 37 

elusion can be drawn with reference to the 
subject here under discussion. We must have 
recourse to the experience of the Saints. 

St. Augustine says in his Confessions: "What 
is it I love, O my God, when I love Thee? It 
is not corporal beauty, nor the dazzling light 
which charms our eyes, nor the sweet varied 
tones of music, not the delightful odor of 
flowers, perfumes, or spices, nor manna, nor 
honey, nor an attractive form. . . . And yet 
when I love my God, I love a light, a voice, 
an odor, a food, an embrace which takes place 
within my soul. There, shines a light which 
space cannot limit; there, re-echoes a cease- 
less melody; there, arises an odor which no 
wind can disperse; there, I taste the savor 
of a food which no appetite can diminish; 
there, I possess that of which not even satiety 
can dispel the charms. That is what I love 
when I love God." * 

In the first account of her states of prayer 
to Father Rodrigue Alvarez, St. Teresa says: 
" The first kind of supernatural prayer which 
I experienced in my own case was an interior 
recollection caused by the soul's seeming to 
possess, interiorly, new senses, not unlike the 

1 Confessions, i. 10, eh, 6. 



38 PRACTICE OF MENTAL PRAYER 

exterior ones. It tries, seemingly, to get rid 
of the trouble caused by these exterior senses 
and the soul thus gains the victory over them, 
and sometimes even draws them after her. 
Its delight is to close the eyes and ears of 
the body so as to see and hear only that 
with which it is occupied, namely to treat 
with God in privacy.' ' x 

Then, passing to a more elevated though 
imperfect degree of Supernatural Prayer, the 
Saint describes the senses of smell and touch 
in the following words : 

" The soul breathes an indescribably sweet 
odor, as if in the depths there was a brazier 
on which perfumes of the finest quality were 
being thrown. Neither the light of the fire 
nor its position is seen, it is true; but the 
whole soul is filled with the warmth of this 
scent-laden air and often, as I have said, the 
body, too, shares the same sensation. Do 
not imagine, however, that one feels the 
warmth and breathes the scent; it is some- 
thing much more delicate and I only use these 
terms to render the ideas more intelligible." 2 

Later on the Saint rises much higher and de- 

1 Lettres, Vol. i, p. 379. 

2 Chdteau interieur, 4* demeure, ch. 2, t. 3, pp. 361, 362. 



NATURE OF PRAYER 39 

scribes the spiritual sense of sight, hearing and 
touch in a most elevated way. Such trans- 
ports are confined to those souls only who 
have arrived at the highest point of Contem- 
plation: " Often when the soul least expects 
it and even when it is not thinking of God, 
Our Lord suddenly rouses it by a flash of 
lightning, as it were. Yet it perceives no 
light and hears no noise, but it most clearly 
understands that its God is calling it. So 
overcome is the soul by the sound of that 
Voice, especially in the beginning, that it 
trembles and moans, although suffering no 
pain. It feels that it has suffered an inde- 
scribably sweet wound, although ignorant of 
its author or its manner. So precious is this 
wound in the eyes of the soul that it never 
wishes to be cured of it. ... In this pain it 
tastes an incomparably greater pleasure than 
the exquisite rapture of the prayer of quiet 
in which there is no mixture of suffering." l 

Finally, St. John of the Cross, when speak- 
ing of the highest form of Contemplation, thus 
describes spiritual taste, sight and touch: 
" This sublime and loving knowledge of God 
is the characteristic of the unitive state, being 

1 Chdteau interieur, 6 e demeure, ch. 2, t. 3, pp. 429, 430. 



40 PRACTICE OF MENTAL PRAYER 

in fact the union itself and consisting in God's 
mysteriously touching the soul's very depths. 
It is God Himself that the soul feels and tastes, 
but not, of course, as fully and as clearly as in 
the light of the beatific vision. The devil 
cannot meddle with a favor at once so elevated 
and so profound. It is not within his power 
to bring about anything of this kind, nor to 
shed such pleasures and delights upon the soul, 
for these lights procure the joy of a feeble and 
rapid glance upon God's essence and life 
eternal. . . . Some of these lights and touches, 
by means of which God reaches the soul, en- 
rich it in a wonderful way. One of them is 
enough to remove in an instant certain imper- 
fections from the soul which it had not been 
able to get rid of by its own efforts during life 
and in addition, to leave it adorned with virtue 
and overwhelmed with supernatural gifts. 
One such rapturous consolation can reward 
the soul for all the sufferings of its life, even 
were they without number. Then, endowed 
with indomitable courage and a passionate 
desire to suffer for its God, the soul endures 
the extraordinary torture of not being able 
to suffer more." l 

1 Montie du Carmel, i. 2, Ch. 26, t. 2, pp. 319, 320, 321. 



NATURE OF PRAYER 41 

In imperfect Contemplation, experimental 
knowledge is most often gained by the one 
spiritual sense of taste alone, God being 
known by the sweetness of His love. 1 

Now the difference which exists between 
the ordinary and extraordinary use of the five 
senses is clear. 

In ordinary prayer the soul acquires by 
means of acts of the intellect and will, analo- 
gous to sight, hearing, taste, smell and touch, 
an excellent devotion, at one and the same 
time sweet and strong, calm and fervent. 

In Contemplation the soul receives direct 
from the Holy Ghost, by means of these 
spiritual senses perfected by wisdom, such a 
perfect experimental knowledge of God that 
no other method could attain the same end. 

This excellent knowledge gained by the 
spiritual senses, especially by the sweetness 
and touch of God's love, never, however, 
takes the place of faith, but only adds to it. 
Faith always holds the first place, and the 
knowledge it gives is of far more dignity and 
certainty. 

1 Suarez, De Oratione, t. 14, p. 186, n. 36. 



42 PRACTICE OF MENTAL PRAYER 



CHAPTER VII 

FOURTH CHARACTERISTIC OF CONTEMPLATION: 
THE SOUL FEELS NO FATIGUE, BUT IN PRO- 
FOUND PEACE DRINKS DEEP OF THE LIVING 
WATERS OF WISDOM AND LOVE 

Meditation is made by means of acts of the 
intellect and will, with the help of the ordinary- 
grace which God refuses to none; here then 
the soul is at work and feels fatigue. In Con- 
templation, on the contrary, the Holy Ghost 
sheds light and love upon the soul, which has 
only to accept them humbly and gratefully. 
Here the soul neither works nor experiences 
fatigue. 

St. Teresa explains this by the metaphor 
of a gardener whose garden needs water: the 
mystic garden in which virtue blooms is the 
soul; the gardener, he who prays. In Medi- 
tation, the gardener draws water by means 
of his bodily strength and consequently be- 
comes wearied. In the contrary case of Con- 
templation, the gardener has only to receive 
the water which falls from heaven and no 
fatigue results. 



NATURE OF PRAYER 43 

St. Francis of Sales draws another com- 
parison from the Canticle of Canticles: " Eat, 
O friends, and drink and be inebriated, my 
dearly beloved. 1 In all these divine mysteries 
which comprise all others," says the Saint, 
11 there is indeed enough to eat and drink for 
all the dear friends, and to inebriate the very 
dear friends. . . . Now to eat is to meditate, 
for in Meditation the spiritual meat is masti- 
cated by the teeth of consideration, the crum- 
bling, crushing and digesting being accom- 
plished with some difficulty. To drink is to 
contemplate, and this is done without diffi- 
culty or resistance, but rather with pleasure 
and readiness, while to ^be inebriated is to 
contemplate so often and so ardently that 
one is carried out of oneself to be entirely in 
God." 2 

[ St. John of the Cross says: " As soon as the 
soul places itself in the presence of God, it 
enters into the possession of that profound 
peace where it drinks deep of the living waters 
of wisdom and love, without having to bring 
the water in the aqueducts of considerations, 
comparisons and figures. In this way the 

1 Cant. 5, i. 

8 Amour de Dieu t I. 6, c. 6, t. 4, p. 324, 



44 PRACTICE OF MENTAL PRAYER 

man suffering from a burning thirst quenches 
it without effort beside the clear stream." l 

St. Teresa addressing these souls which are 
no longer beginners, but have attained the 
most sublime degree of Contemplation pos- 
sible in this life, says: " There Our Lord 
enriches the soul with His Gifts and Lights, 
at the same time surrounding it with such 
profound peace and perfect silence, that it 
reminds me of the building of Solomon's 
temple, where no noise was allowed. This 
seventh dwelling may also be called the 
temple of God, where God and the soul enjoy 
each other in profound silence. ... It is 
here, in my opinion, that God grants its 
request by giving it the supreme pledge of 
His love. Here is the source of living waters 
of which the wounded hind drinks deep and 
quenches her thirst. Here is God's taber- 
nacle where this well-beloved soul tastes 
indescribable delights. In a word, it is here 
that, like the dove which Noe sent from the 
Ark to see if the waters of the flood had abated, 
the soul has found the olive branch and by 
showing it announced that dry land had been 
found in the midst of the waves and storms 

1 Montee du Carmel, i, 2, ch. 14, t. 2, pp. 196, 198. 



NATURE OF PRAYER 45 

of the world. ... I assure you, my daughters, 
however, that these souls are not without 
their cross, but it does not disquiet them in 
the least nor in any way disturb their peace. 
The cross passes away like a wave or slight 
storm, and calm is immediately restored 
because the presence of their adorable Spouse 
makes them forget all else. May He be 
blessed and praised by all creatures. Amen. " l 

1 Chdteau interieur, 7 e demeure, ch. 3, t. 3, pp. 549, 551, 552. 



46 PRACTICE OF MENTAL PRAYER 



CHAPTER VIII 

FIFTH CHARACTERISTIC OF CONTEMPLATION: 
THE POWERS OF THE SOUL ARE SUSPENDED 
BY ADMIRATION AND LOVE 

Great orators arouse and hold the attention ; 
masters of eloquence go even further and 
carry their listeners out of themselves to such 
an extent that they forget everything else and 
can no longer do anything but listen to words 
which charm and enkindle them. Somewhat 
the same thing takes place in Contemplation, 
but of an immeasurably higher nature. The 
soul, ravished in God, forgets all created 
things, becomes incapable of coming back on 
self and is absorbed by the sole occupation of 
learning to know God with admiration and to 
love Him. " Contemplation," says the author 
of the Ladder of the Cloistered, " is the eleva- 
tion of the soul, which, being suspended in 
God, tastes the joys of everlasting sweetness." l 
Complete suspension takes place only in per- 
fect Contemplation, for in imperfect Con- 

1 This work, formerly attributed to St. Bernard, is by Guigues, 
Prior of the Grande Chartreuse, who was much praised by St. 
Bernard and Peter the Venerable. 



NATURE OF PRAYER 47 

templation the soul is not entirely absorbed 
in God and consequently is still undergoing 
the trial of distractions. 

St. Teresa, who is constantly speaking of 
the suspension of the soul's powers, is always 
careful to distinguish between partial and 
total suspension. In the fourteenth chapter 
of her Life, when speaking of the prayer of the 
quiet, belonging to imperfect Contemplation, 
where the suspension is only partial, St. 
Teresa teaches us by means of a graceful 
metaphor how the will is suspended and sunk 
in God, while the understanding and the 
memory, which remain free, go and seek their 
food elsewhere, like the doves: 

" Without knowing how it becomes cap- 
tive, the will simply gives God its consent to 
His imprisoning it, sure of being fettered by 
Him it loves. . . . The understanding and 
memory come to the assistance of the will so 
that it may become more capable of enjoying 
sq great a good. Yet sometimes this co-oper- 
ation only serves to disturb the will in this 
intimate union with God. In such a case 
the will, without being troubled by their 
importunity, should seek to maintain the 
pleasure and profound calm which it enjoys. 



48 PRACTICE OF MENTAL PRAYER 

To try to fix these two powers is to be led 
astray with them. They are then like doves 
which, not content with the food their master 
gives them without any work on their part, 
go to seek other food elsewhere, but finding 
their quest useless, hasten to return to their 
dovecot. These two powers, besides, come 
and go, in the hope that the will will make 
them partakers of its enjoyment. If the Lord 
accords them a small part of this heavenly 
food, they stop; if not, they go off again to 
seek elsewhere. So credulous are they, that 
they flatter themselves they are rendering a 
service to the will by laying its happiness 
before it, but often they are doing it an 
injury/' l 

Further on, in the eighteenth chapter, the 
Saint speaks of the prayer of union belonging 
to perfect Contemplation, and thus describes 
the total suspension of the powers which is 
characteristic of this kind of prayer: " All 
the soul's powers lose their natural activity 
and are so suspended that they have not the 
slightest knowledge of their own operations. 
If one has been previously meditating on some 
mystery, it becomes effaced from the memory 

1 Vie par elle-meme, ch. 14, t, I, p, 149, 



NATURE OF PRAYER 49 

as completely as if it had never existed. If 
one has been reading, all remembrance of 
the matter disappears and the mind can no 
longer be fixed upon it. It is the same with 
vocal prayers. The memory, like a persist- 
ent butterfly, here finds its wings burnt and 
can no longer flit hither and thither. The 
will is doubtless engaged in loving, but 
without understanding how it loves. As to 
the understanding, if it understands, it does 
so in an unknown manner and it cannot com- 
prehend what it understands. . . . That 
is a mystery where I lose myself.' ' 1 

The total or partial suspension of the powers 
is, as we have seen, the characteristic of Con- 
templation and distinguishes it from Super- 
natural Recollection. 

1 Vie par elk-mime, chJio, t. i, pp. 195, 196. 



50 PRACTICE OF MENTAL PRAYER 



CHAPTER IX 

SIXTH CHARACTERISTIC OF CONTEMPLATION: 
IT IS THE BEGINNING OF EVERLASTING 
BEATITUDE 

This is the common teaching of the Saints. 
We will cite some as witnesses. St.' Gregory 
says: " The contemplative life begins here 
on earth, to be completed in the heavenly 
home, for the fire of love which begins to burn 
on this earth will be more ardently enkindled 
when God Himself, the object of that love, is 
seen face to face. ,, l 

St. Thomas says: " Now the contemplation 
of the divine truth is imperfect, for it is effected 
by means of a mirror and an enigma and con- 
sequently in Contemplation we are forestall- 
ing, as it were, the eternal beatitude which 
begins here below, to be completed in the life 
to come.' ' 2 

St. Bonaventure writes: 3 " The contempla- 
tive life begins on earth and becomes perfected 
in our heavenly home. Love indeed is a fire 

1 Horn. XIV. super Ezech., post med., Paris, 1571, t. 2, p, 141. 

2 2 a 2 ae , q. 180, a. 4, in corp. 

8 De Bono Sapienticz, cap. 4, in fine, t. 7, p. 639 and 340. 



NATURE OF PRAYER 51 

which begins to burn in this life and which 
will become more inflamed once it has seen its 
divine object. The works of the active life, 
says St. Gregory in his Morals, come to an 
end with the body, but the joys of the con- 
templative life become greater at the moment 
of death. At that moment they will not be 
lessened, but will last forever. That is what 
the Psalmist says: ' Better is one day in Thy 
courts above thousands.' 1 In this seventh 
day, whose end shall be marked by no even- 
ing, the contemplative soul indeed finds 
eternal rest in the Spirit which has shed upon 
it His seven gifts, saying with the Psalmist: 
1 This is my rest for ever and ever; here will 
I dwell, for I have chosen it.' " 2 

St. Teresa, when speaking of a soul which 
is entering upon the way of Contemplation, 
says: " The soul takes flight and gradually 
rises above its misery, and God gives it some 
knowledge of the happiness of everlasting 
glory." 3 I have chosen this from among the 
numerous testimonies borne by the Saint, as it 
shows that even the first stages of Contempla- 
tion savor of life eternal. 

l Ps. 83: 11. 2 Ps. 131: 14. 

8 Vie par elle-mtme, ch. 14, p. 150. 



52 PRACTICE OF MENTAL PRAYER 

And lastly, St. John of the Cross who, 
on the contrary, was elevated to the highest 
degree of Contemplation, says: " I am 
tempted to believe that at the moment of the 
awakening which puts the soul in possession 
of this delightful sight, God, so to speak, 
draws aside from the separating veils, so that 
more facility may be given for seeing what 
He is. Then this adorable Face, shining 
with grace and beauty, allows the rays to 
appear and just be seen. I say just be seen, 
as all the veils have not entirely disappeared, 
since that of faith is never torn in this 
life." * 

Besides, in order to be better convinced of 
the truth of this point, it suffices to contrast 
the different characteristics of eternal happi- 
ness and Contemplation. In Contemplation, 
it is true that God is always seen by means of 
a mirror, in an enigma, while in Heaven, He 
is seen face to face, this constituting an essen- 
tial difference. The analogy is, however, suf- 
ficient for us to be able to say with much 
truth: Contemplation is the foretaste of the 
eternal happiness of the Saints. Let us 
examine this statement in detail. 

2 Viveflamme d' amour, strophe 4, vers 1, t. 4, p. 629. 



NATURE OF PRAYER 53 

In the first place the essential object of 
knowledge and love in eternal beatitude is 
God, Creator and sovereign Lord of all 
things. It is the same in Contemplation. 

In the second place, the Vision of eternal 
beatitude is an act of the intellect, unique 
and everlasting, 1 where that which God sees 
in Himself is the subject of Contemplation, 
that is, the infinite fulness of His Wisdom, 
Power, Beauty, Goodness, Being, Life — in a 
word, all Perfection. The knowledge of God 
in Contemplation is a simple, prolonged act 
of the understanding, comprising in an emi- 
nent degree in its simplicity all that the varied 
consideration of the Divine Perfections would 
teach us. 

In the third place, love in eternal beatitude 
is a unique and eternal act of the will, com- 
prising in its eminent simplicity all the per- 
fections claimed by its object, which is God. 
This love thus includes complacency insati- 
able of praise, a boundless benevolence, and 
almost infinite respect. In Contemplation, 
love is a simple and prolonged act com- 
prising in an eminent degree praise, benevo- 
lence, zeal for God's glory, conformity to His 

1 St. Thomas, i a 2 ae , q. 3, a. 2, ad. 4. 



54 PRACTICE OF MENTAL PRAYER 

Will, and the respect and gratitude due to 
His Divine Majesty. 

In the fourth place, the peace of eternal 
beatitude is infinite in its depths, immutable 
in its permanency, eternal in its length; 
while, in Contemplation, the soul enjoys a 
peace whose depth, extent and constancy sur- 
pass all feeling. 

In the fifth place, the joy of eternal beati- 
tude is such that no idea of it can be formed 
on earth, in accordance with the words of 
St. Paul: " Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, 
neither hath it entered into the heart of man 
what things God hath prepared for them 
that love Him." 1 The heavenly joy tasted 
in Contemplation is so great that no tongue 
could explain it to those who have not experi- 
enced it. 

Lastly, in the sixth place, in eternal beati- 
tude knowledge, love, peace and joy are 
showered upon the soul by the Holy Ghost, 
while in Contemplation the soul has only to 
receive these same infused graces without 
work or fatigue. 

1 1 Cor. 2 : 9. 



NATURE OF PRAYER 55 
CHAPTER X 

DEFINITION OF CONTEMPLATION 

In consequence of what has just been said, 
Contemplation may be defined as: "A simple 
and loving gazing upon God, where the soul, 
suspended as the result of the admiration and 
love it feels, learns to know God experiment- 
ally and in profound peace enjoys the begin- 
ning of eternal beatitude." 

To take these different points in turn. 

i . A Simple and Loving Gazing upon God 

The soul's spiritual gaze is simple, in that 
it is an act of faith wonderfully elevated 
by wisdom and consequently made without 
reasoning. It is loving, because the soul 
does not only contemplate God on account 
of His indescribable beauty, but also on 
account of the love which it bears Him. 
Hence there is a twofold difference between 
Contemplation and Meditation : in the latter, 
reasoning is employed; while in the former, 
there is no reasoning. Again, in Meditation 
the knowledge of God is sometimes unaccom- 



56 PRACTICE OF MENTAL PRAYER 

panied by any warmth, whilst in Contempla- 
tion it is always surrounded by love. 

2. The Soul is Suspended as the Result of the 

Admiration and Love It Feels 

The suspension of its powers is total in per- 
fect, partial in imperfect, Contemplation. 
This it is which constitutes the essential dif- 
ference between Contemplation and Super- 
natural Recollection, where the powers remain 
quite free. 

3. The Soul Learns to Love God Experimentally 

Just as we learn to know colors, sounds, 
scents, and in general, the properties of bodies 
experimentally by means of the senses of the 
body; in the same way, by means of the 
spiritual senses, wonderfully perfected by 
wisdom, we learn to know God by experience. 
This way of learning to know God by means 
of the ineffable sweetness of Divine love, as 
honey is known by its sweetness, is much more 
perfect, noble and delightful than a knowl- 
edge gained by a series of arguments. It 
rests upon faith, which always keeps the first 
place in the order of knowledge and which, 



NATURE OF PRAYER 57 

as regards its essence, is common both to Con- 
templation and Meditation. 

4. The Soul Enjoys Profound Peace 

In Contemplation, at least when it is per- 
fect, the soul forgets all things relating to this 
earth — the cause of a thousand cares and 
worries — to attach itself to God alone, in 
Whom it finds a home of undisturbed rest. 

5. The Soul Enjoys a Beginning of Eternal 
Beatitude 

This foretaste essentially differs from the 
beatitude itself, for there is an abyss between 
seeing God face to face and contemplating 
Him in a picture. Yet so great is the delight, 
that those souls who have experienced it cry 
aloud spontaneously: " If this happiness 
were to last always, this would no longer be 
earth, but Heaven! " 



58 PRACTICE OF MENTAL PRAYER 



CHAPTER XI 

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN INFUSED CONTEMPLA- 
TION AND THE ACTIVE CONTEMPLATION OF 
ST. IGNATIUS's EXERCISES 

First as to their definitions: infused Con- 
templation when reduced to what is essential 
may be defined as: u The soul's simple gaze 
upon God, accompanied by admiration and 
love and the suspension of its powers; " while 
the active Contemplation of St. Ignatius's 
Exercises is: "A peaceful work accompanied 
by the understanding, giving birth in the soul 
to admiration and love of God and His works." 

These two kinds of prayer differ in the five 
following points : 

i. Difference of work. The knowledge and 
the love of God in infused Contemplation 
are showered upon the soul by the Holy Ghost 
and being thus exempt from work, it belongs 
to the passive order. In the active Contempla- 
tion of the Exercises, the knowledge and love 
are produced by repeated acts of the intellect 
and will. This is of the active order then and 
is always accompanied by more or less tiring 
work. 



NATURE OF PRAYER 59 

2. Difference of simplicity. The intellect 
knows God by intuition alone in infused Con- 
templation, while in the active Contemplation 
of the Exercises, on the contrary, there are 
always distinct acts of reflection and reasoning. 
It is the same with the will; in the former, 
there is but one affection, as the result 
of which the heart loves a Good including 
all good; in the latter, on the contrary, the 
affections are always manifold. 

3. Difference of light in the intellect and 
warmth in the will. Everything, however sub- 
lime, that is contained in books, everything, 
however profound, that reflection teaches of 
the Divine attributes, pales indeed before that 
which the soul, raised to infused Contempla- 
tion, understands in its simple and general 
view of its Creator. As regards the will, its 
sole act of general love fires it much more than 
all the other separate acts of the affections that 
it could make. This difference arises from the 
gift of wisdom at once dazzling with light and 
glowing with love, perfecting the faith and 
charity of passive Contemplation to a wonder- 
ful extent. This is not so in the active Con- 
templation of the Exercises. 
L And all this, without detracting from the 



60 PRACTICE OF MENTAL PRAYER 

intrinsic perfection and merit of the acts of 
faith and charity, which can be more perfect 
and more meritorious in active than in passive 
Contemplation. Here I am speaking only of 
the increase of light and heat. 

4. Difference in the liberty of the soul's 
powers. In infused Contemplation, admira- 
tion and love suspend, at least partially, the 
intellect and the will; while in active Con- 
templation, on the contrary, admiration and 
love never go so far as to check the liberty of 
these powers. 

5. Difference of preparation. The acts of 
active Contemplation may always be pro- 
duced with more or less facility by the help of 
the grace which God refuses to no one. It is 
equally possible with practice to succeed in 
making them more readily and easily. With 
infused Contemplation it is different, for the 
acts characteristic of it cannot possibly be 
made without the assistance of a grace which 
is God's entirely free gift to those to whom 
He wills to give it. 

A real likeness between these two kinds of 
Contemplation must, however, be recognized; 
in both are found, though in very different 
degrees, peace, tranquillity, rest of the soul, 



NATURE OF PRAYER 61 

admiration and love of God and His works. 
From this Suarez concluded that the active 
Contemplation of the Exercises of St. Ignatius 
is excellent of its kind, the reason he gives 
being that an ordinary mental prayer is more 
perfect in proportion as it more nearly ap- 
proaches its type, infused Contemplation. 1 
We are entirely of his opinion, but without 
prejudice to the other methods of active 
prayer taught by the Saints. 

1 Suarez, De oratione, i, 2, c. 11, N. 10, t. 14, p. 168, and De 
religione Soc. Jesu, 1, 9, c. 6, Nn. 9 and 11, t. 16, pp. 1039, 1040. 



62 PRACTICE OF MENTAL PRAYER 



CHAPTER XII 

HOW THERE ARE TWO KINDS OF CONTEMPLA- 
TION, ONE PERFECT AND THE OTHER IM- 
PERFECT 

There are four main distinctions between 
perfect and imperfect Contemplation: 

i . In imperfect Contemplation, the powers 
of the soul are not completely suspended in 
God and consequently can still turn more or 
less to different objects. For instance, the 
soul may revert to itself and examine what is 
taking place within it, it may entertain pious 
thoughts of which God is not the immediate 
object, or may even think of non-religious 
subjects, in other words, have distractions 
which must be banished. On the other hand, 
in perfect Contemplation the suspension of 
the powers is complete, and in consequence 
it is impossible for the soul to revert to itself 
and to have any other thought, even a pious 
one, which might distract it from God. 

2. The soul, in imperfect Contemplation, 
is united to God in a wonderful way, but not 
so as to transform it, while in perfect Con- 



NATURE OF PRAYER 63 

templation, on the contrary, the soul is trans- 
formed in God. 

By means of a well-known comparison, an 
attempt may be made to gain some idea of 
this transformation: bring water close to a 
fire and it is heated, but never transformed 
into fire; on the contrary, plunge a piece of 
iron into a furnace and it soon becomes filled 
with the light and heat of the fire and, with- 
out ceasing to be iron, it is, as it were, trans- 
formed into fire. This is a feeble image of 
the soul in perfect Contemplation when, 
plunged in the Divinity which fills it with 
warmth and heat, it is as if transformed in 
God without losing its nature. Our Lord, 
when speaking to St. Teresa of perfect 
Contemplation, says: " The soul is entirely 
consumed, My daughter, so as to be more 
deeply immersed in Me; it is no longer the 
soul which lives, but I who live in it: as it 
cannot understand what it hears, it is hearing 
and yet not hearing." * 

St. Bernard explains this doctrine with a 
master's touch in a passage celebrated for 
its beauty: " When, then, shall my soul, 
elated with divine love, forgetful of and 

i Vie par elk-m&me, ch. 18, t. i, p. 195, 



64 PRACTICE OF MENTAL PRAYER 

despising itself as a useless vessel, soar up 
to God, unite itself to Him and having become 
but one spirit with Him, say: My flesh and 
my heart have failed! God of my heart and 
my portion forever! Blessed and holy do I 
call him to whom it has been granted to 
experience something similar in this mortal 
life, even once, secretly and for a single instant ! 
To be so carried away that one's existence 
seems to have ceased, to be no longer con- 
scious of self, but, as it were, destroyed and 
annihilated, this is the result of a heavenly 
intercourse and not of human affection. . . . 
O pure and holy love! O sweet and fragrant 
affection ! O union purified and freed from all 
earthly attraction ! by so much the more pure 
and free, as it is without any admixture of 
self-love; by so much the more fragrant and 
sweet, as all savors of the Divine; to reach 
this stage is to become God-like. Just as a 
tiny drop of water poured into a large quan- 
tity of wine seems to disappear, taking the 
taste and color of the wine; as iron when 
plunged into the furnace seems to lose its 
nature and become in all respects like fire; 
and as the air which is penetrated by the 
light of the sun is transformed into light 



NATURE OF PRAYER 65 

itself, so that it seems to give rather than 
receive light; so it is with those holy people 
in whom all human affection becomes assimi- 
lated in some indescribable way and changed 
into the will of God." 1 

3. Imperfect Contemplation is the begin- 
ning of angelic speech, but perfect Contempla- 
tion goes much farther and makes one the 
rival of Angels. 

During this mortal life we cannot produce 
acts of the intellect without the help of images 
which accompany the acts, as a shadow follows 
the body. 2 The Angels, on the contrary, 
make no use of images; hence a Contempla- 
tion is more angelic in proportion as the soul 
is freed from the assistance of the imagination. 

In imperfect Contemplation, the images 
used are few ; the soul departs from its human 
method of acting, to begin to speak in an 
angelic way. In perfect Contemplation, the 
soul makes no use of images, but holds con- 
verse with God in the same way as the Angels. 

Listen to what St. Bernard says: 3 " May 
my soul die, if one may so speak, the death of 

1 De diligendo Deo, c. 10, initio. 

2 St. Gregory of Nazianzen, Or alio 2 de theologia. 
8 Sermo 52 in Cant, } circa med. 



66 PRACTICE OF MENTAL PRAYER 

the Angels, so that by losing the remembrance 
of things present, it may strip itself not only 
of the attraction to things inferior and cor- 
poreal, but still further, of their images. May 
it thus hold pure co ; munion with those 
whose rival it is by reason of its purity. Con- 
templation, it seems to me, consists entirely 
or for the most part in such rapture. For 
not to be hindered during life by the attraction 
of earthly things is the character of human 
virtue, but to be free from bodily images 
while meditating is the result of angelic purity. 
11 Both one and the other are a grace from 
God, both are ecstasies in which one is carried 
out of oneself, but in the former, far away, 
and in the other, near. Happy is the one 
who can say: ' I have gone far off, flying 
away, and I abode in the wilderness.' 1 He 
was not satisfied with having gone out of him- 
self, but has been far from himself, so as to 
be able to rest. You have risen above the 
seductions of the flesh in such a way as to 
be delivered from its lusts and no longer 
hindered by its charms. Here there is prog- 
ress and separation, but you are not yet 
removed to a distance as long as you have 

1 Ps. 54 : 8. 



NATURE OF PRAYER 67 

not freed yourself, by purity of spirit, from 
bodily images which take you on all sides. 
Do not promise yourself rest yet. You are 
mistaken if you think you will find lower than 
this the place of rest, the secret of solitude, 
the serenity of light, the dwelling-place of 
peace. But give me someone who has reached 
this stage and I will not hesitate to admit 
that he is at rest and can say with truth: 
1 Turn, my soul, into thy rest, for the Lord 
hath been bountiful to thee! ' " * 

4. Imperfect Contemplation may last for 
a considerable time, whilst perfect Contempla- 
tion is always of very short duration. St. 
Teresa says that at first perfect Contempla- 
tion never lasted more than the time of a 
Hail Mary 2 in her case and that she never 
knew it to last more than half an hour. 3 

This short duration, however, does not 
prevent the effects of perfect Contemplation 
from being much greater than those of imper- 
fect Contemplation, for the soul's sanctifica- 
tion depends less on the duration of the grace 
than on its penetrating effects, as is seen 
in the case of the Apostles on the day of 
Pentecost. 

1 Ps. 114 : 7. 2 Vie par elle-mtme, ch. 4, p. 37. 

* Ibid., ch. 18, p. 194. 



68 PRACTICE OF MENTAL PRAYER 



CHAPTER XIII 

FIRST DEGREE OF IMPERFECT CONTEMPLATION: 
PRAYER OF QUIET 

Mystical writers include rather a large 
number of degrees in imperfect Contempla- 
tion. I limit myself to the following: the 
prayer of quiet and spiritual intoxication. This 
is enough for direction in the majority of cases. 
Let us take the prayer of quiet first. 

It is so called because its characteristic is 
a profound peace, filled with sweetness, which 
arises in the depths of the soul and extends 
to all its powers and at times overflows upon 
the senses. 

Since all the powers are not entirely sus- 
pended, the soul is still able to produce some 
distinct affections, but it should only make 
such as it feels impelled to by grace, and 
further, it ought to proceed with such calm- 
ness and gentleness as in no way to disturb 
the delightful rest to which it has been led 
by the Holy Ghost. 

Listen to what St. Teresa says: " In this 
prayer of quiet the soul should proceed with 



NATURE OF PRAYER 69 

gentleness and without commotion. By com- 
motion I mean the search made by the intel- 
lect for thoughts and considerations in thanks- 
giving for this benefit, and the confused 
accumulation of one's sins and faults one 
upon the other in proof of the soul's unworthi- 
ness. All this picture becomes stirred up in 
the soul, the mind depicts it and memory 
torments you with it. In my own case, at 
least, there are times when these two powers 
tire me immensely and although my memory 
is weak I cannot check it. The will must 
then persist in its repose, understanding that 
no good is effected with God by means of 
violence ; it would be like throwing great logs 
of wood on the spark which will most likely 
be extinguished by them. 

11 When convinced of this truth, let the 
soul say with humility: ' Lord, what good 
can I do here? What relation is there 
between a slave and his master, between 
earth and heaven? ' or other words which 
arise spontaneously. Above all, let the soul 
feel the truth of what it says and not be made 
uneasy by the intellect, which is only a dis- 
turber of its peace. Often while the intellect 
is straying, the will finds itself in this union 



70 PRACTICE OF MENTAL PRAYER 

with God and enjoys it in profound peace. 
As it would be useless to try to fix the intellect 
and so share the happiness with it, the will 
will do better to leave it to its digressions and 
continue to enjoy this interior pleasure, at 
the same time keeping recollected like the 
prudent bee. For if the bees all went in pur- 
suit of each other instead of some remaining 
in the hive, how would the honey be made? 
. . . Seeing ourselves so close to Our Lord 
we ought to beg graces, pray for the Church, 
for those who have recommended themselves 
to our prayers, for the souls in Purgatory, 
and all this without the noise of words, but 
with the keen desire of being heard. Such a 
prayer comprises much and obtains much 
more than all the considerations possible to 
theintellect. ,,1 

St. Jane Frances de Chant al also speaks 
of the prayer of quiet in the following terms: 
" My mind, as regards its acuteness, remains 
in the simplest concord, but is not united, 
for when it wants to make acts of union, as 
it does only too often on certain occasions, it 
feels the effort and clearly perceives that it 
cannot unite itself, but can only remain united. 

1 Vie par elle-mime, ch. 15, t. 1, pp. 161, 162. 



NATURE OF PRAYER 71 

The soul would not wish to stir beyond that, 
does not even think of it and does nothing 
but force more profoundly and yet most 
imperceptibly into its depths the desire that 
God may do with it and all creatures and all 
things what He pleases. The soul would 
make no other exercise but this for the morn- 
ing, Holy Mass, preparation for Holy Com- 
munion and thanksgiving for all blessings. 
Lastly in all things it would wish only to 
remain in this simple unity of spirit with God, 
without looking beyond, and in this state some- 
times to say the Our Father for everyone, for 
individuals and for itself, without diverting 
its glance in any way, nor considering why 
or for whom it is praying. Often, according 
to the occasion and the necessity or the un- 
sought affection which comes to it, the soul 
melts away in this unity." 1 

The repose cannot be permanent with souls 
raised to the grace of infused Contemplation. 
" There are certain souls," says St. Teresa, 
11 who, when they have arrived at the prayer 
of quiet and have begun to enjoy its delights, 
imagine that it is very well to enjoy it always, 

1 Lettre d, saint Frangois de Sales, 29 Juin, 1621, Plon, 1877, 
t, 4» P- 550. 



72 PRACTICE OF MENTAL PRAYER 

but I beg of them, as I have done elsewhere, 
not to entertain that idea. This life is long 
and to endure its trials with perfection we 
need to consider how Jesus Christ, our Divine 
Model, bore those with which He saw Himself 
overwhelmed." x 

The usual prayer of these souls is Super- 
natural Recollection, joyous or sorrowful 
according as God manifests Himself to the 
soul, making it feel the indescribable tender- 
ness of His Love or reproving it for its faults ; 
giving it a foretaste of heaven or making it 
realize the sadness of its exile. In general 
the Recollection is accompanied by sadness, 
for, since the soul has many faults, it is in 
a state of purification, which must of neces- 
sity be painful. But even then the Recollec- 
tion always brings a vigorous love and pro- 
found peace to the soul. These souls are also 
tried by spiritual aridity, which is necessary 
to keep them humble and make them under- 
stand from experience how incapable they are 
of raising themselves by their own efforts to 
any supernatural state. 

1 Chdteau interieur, 6 e demeure, ch. 7, t. 3, p. 487. 



NATURE OF PRAYER 73 



CHAPTER XIV 

THE OTHER DEGREE OF IMPERFECT CONTEM- 
PLATION: SPIRITUAL INTOXICATION 

This kind of prayer is much less frequent 
with contemplative souls than the Prayer of 
Quiet. This chapter, however, will be devoted 
to it, so as to prevent the illusions which 
easily arise in it. 

Spiritual Intoxication is such fervent devo- 
tion of love that the soul can hold it in only 
with difficulty. St. Teresa describes it as 
follows: "An effusion of praise in God's 
honor, but irregular, unless the Lord Himself 
puts it in order, for the intellect is, to say the 
least, useless in that respect. The soul, 
carried out of itself, excited by the sweetness 
of its transports, longs to raise its voice in 
hymns of praise. The flowers have already 
half opened their calix and begun to spread 
their perfume. Here the soul would wish to 
be seen by all creatures in order to make 
known His glory to them, so as to be able to 
unite with them and offer God their praise in 
concert. It longs to share with them a happi- 



74 PRACTICE OF MENTAL PRAYER 

ness beneath the weight of which it sinks. . . . 
It would wish to possess a thousand tongues 
with which to praise the Lord. It utters a 
thousand holy follies, but which go straight 
to the mark, charming Him Who has brought 
this about. ... A soul when in this state 
sees clearly that the Martyrs did scarcely any- 
thing of themselves in supporting their tor- 
ments, since this unswerving courage came 
to them from another source. But then, what 
suffering when the soul, awakened from its 
ecstasy, sees itself condemned to live on in 
this world, under the sad law of cares/ ' l 

In this kind of prayer, the powers are not 
entirely suspended and consequently the intel- 
lect and the will can still act. Hence reason 
must regulate the fervor of devotion, or the 
soul is only dispensed from this in the one 
case of perfect Contemplation, where God 
substitutes His infinite Wisdom for the 
human reason buried in Him. 

The control exercised by the reason ought, 
in the first place, to have the effect of pre- 
venting this overflowing joy from appearing 
in public: when one does not feel master of 
one's exterior actions, one ought to seek pri- 

1 Vie par elle-mtme, ch. 16, pp. 172, 173. 



NATURE OF PRAYER 75 

vacy. Further it ought, even in private, to 
regulate the actions of the body so as to pre- 
serve to them all fitting propriety. Do not 
let it be said that this fervor, as it comes from 
the Holy Ghost, is perfect in all its mani- 
festations. When God gives an abundance 
of food to the body, does He not always give 
the charge to the soul of moderating the use 
of it, in accordance with the rules of temper- 
ance? In the same way, when He lavishly 
grants the heavenly wine which intoxicates, 
He leaves the care and duty of moderating 
its fire to reason. 



76 PRACTICE OF MENTAL PRAYER 



CHAPTER XV 

FIRST DEGREE OF PERFECT CONTEMPLATION: 
SIMPLE UNION 

There are two degrees of perfect Con- 
templation: simple union and ecstatic union 
or spiritual betrothal. Let us begin by simple 
union. 

It is characterized by the four properties 
of perfect Contemplation of which we have 
spoken: 1 the total suspension of the soul's 
powers, its transformation in God, intercourse 
with God after the manner of the Angels, 
and short duration Nothing more ; the body 
does not lose its sensibility as in ecstasy. 

St. Teresa describes its wonderful fruits 
of sanctity as follows : 

Having called to mind by means of a grace- 
ful comparison how the silkworm, wrapped 
in its cocoon, as it were in its tomb, dies and 
is there transformed into a beautiful white 
butterfly, the saint passes from the metaphor 
to the reality and thus continues: " Let us 
see now what this mystical worm becomes 

1 See ch. 12. 



NATURE OF PRAYER 77 

once it has ceased to live, for it is with the 
intention of arriving at this point that I have 
been speaking up to the present. Scarcely 
has it made its entry into this elevated species 
of prayer before it dies entirely to the world 
and is transformed into a beautiful white 
butterfly. O wonder of the Divine Power! 
And who could worthily depict the state of 
a soul which has seen itself so closely united 
to God, and, as it were, buried in His great- 
ness even for a short space! For this time, 
to my mind, never lasts a half hour. I tell 
you, indeed, that this soul no longer knows 
itself. There is as much difference between 
what it was and what it is, as between the 
ugly worm and the white butterfly. This 
soul has no knowledge of how it has merited 
such a great happiness, or rather, whence it 
has come, for it sees clearly that it was not 
in the least deserved. It feels a consuming 
desire to praise God and suffer for Him a 
thousand deaths, if that were possible, and 
at the same time a burning thirst arises within 
it to endure heavy crosses for its Beloved. It 
burns with a desire of doing penance and an 
incredible love for retirement and solitude. 
In short, the soul so ardently_wish.es that God 



78 PRACTICE OF MENTAL PRAYER 

may be known and loved by all men, that it 
cannot endure to see Him offended without 
feeling intense pain. . . . Wings have been 
given to it. How, being able to fly, could it 
be satisfied with going step by step? All that 
the soul does for God in this new state seems 
nothing in comparison with what it would 
like to do. . . . 

" The soul ardently desires to leave this 
world, which disgusts it, and if anything can 
soften the hardships of its exile, it is the 
thought that it is detained here by God's 
Will. . . . This suffering causes the soul to 
shed copious tears each time it turns to 
prayer. This weeping no doubt arises from 
the interior'martyrdom which the soul endures 
in seeing that God is so seriously offended 
instead of being honored as He should be, 
and that so many unbelievers and heretics 
are lost. What afflicts it more than anything 
else is the loss of Christian souls. Doubtless, 
the soul knows that, since God's mercy is 
infinite, these souls may be converted and 
saved in spite of their irregular life and yet 
it still fears that many are to be damned. O 
wonderful effect of God's grace! Only a few 
years or, may be, days ago, this soul thought 



NATURE OF PRAYER 79 

only of itself. Who then has given it these 
lively and noble feelings which could not be 
acquired by many years of meditation, how- 
ever carefully made? How then, some one 
will say, if I give all my attention for several 
years to the consideration of what an evil sin 
is ; that those who are lost are children of God 
and my brethren; that being surrounded by 
so many dangers in this unhappy life, it is 
best for us to quit it ; will these considerations 
not be enough to procure me such feelings? 
No, my daughters, they are not enough. The 
sorrow experienced by he soul which is ele- 
vated to this ntimate union with God is very 
different from that which we can excite in 
ourselves by our own efforts. By means of 
long meditation it is within our power, I 
admit, to experience a certain suffering, but 
it is far from equalling that wh ch is experi- 
enced in the state of which I am speaking. 
This latter penetrates our heart and seems to 
tear and bruise our soul without any co- 
operation on our own part and often even 
against our will. What is this suffering, and 
what is its cause? I will tell you, my Sisters. 
Remember these words of the Spouse in the 
Canticle . . . : ' The Lord brought me into 



80 PRACTICE OF MENTAL PRAYER 

the cellar of wine and has in a holy manner 
inebriated me with His love.' * That is exactly 
what happens here." 2 

Union is a rare favor especially to souls 
who have only just entered upon perfect Con- 
templation. " There are some souls," says 
St. Teresa, " who after they have been raised 
by Our Lord to perfect Contemplation always 
want to remain in that state, but that is im- 
possible. ... In the beginning, after the 
first time, one year or even many years may 
elapse before He again grants us this favor." 3 

The usual method of prayer is therefore 
Supernatural Recollection, sometimes joyful, 
sometimes sorrowful, but more perfect than 
in the case of those souls who have not gone 
beyond imperfect Contemplation. 

It is not unusual with such souls for the 
Recollection to be raised to a very intimate 
union of the will with God, while the under- 
standing and the memory remain quite free 
in their action. This favor is most often 
granted to apostolic men, such as St. Francis 
Borgia, who, were they more transported, 

1 Cant. 2 : 4. 

2 Chdteau interieur, 5 e demeure, ch. 2, pp. 392-397. 
* Ibid., 6 e demeure, ch. 7, pp. 482, 484. 



NATURE OF PRAYER 81 

could not fittingly exercise their office. Here 
is what St. Teresa says on this subject: iA It 
sometimes and even often happens that the 
soul clearly understands that its will alone 
is united to God, at least so it seems to it, 
and that this power only is occupied with 
Him without being able to turn to any other 
object, whilst the two other powers, of the 
understanding and the memory, remain free 
to act and work in God's service. In a word, 
Martha and Mary go together. Being ex- 
tremely surprised to experience this, I asked 
Fr. Francis Borgia if it was not an illusion. 
He told me no, and that it often happened 
to him." 1 

Lastly, these souls have their times of spir- 
itual dryness, which are necessary to make 
them understand their weakness and thus 
keep them humble. 

1 Lettre au pere Rodrigue Alvarez, t. i, p. 380, 



82 PRACTICE OF MENTAL PRAYER 



CHAPTER XVI 

SECOND DEGREE OF PERFECT CONTEMPLATION: 
ECSTATIC UNION OR SPIRITUAL BETROTHAL 

Ecstatic Union differs from Simple Union 
in that not only the powers of the soul are then 
suspended, but the external senses also lose 
activity. Thus one no longer sees, hears or 
feels. Ecstatic Union is, as it were, the en- 
trance hall to the consummated union or 
spiritual marriage, for ecstasies are inter- 
views between God and the soul, which is 
there fired by a love strong as death, and 
where the soul finds the courage to persevere 
in the midst of the great trials through which 
it must pass in order to arrive at this Divine 
marriage. When the ecstasy is brought about 
instantly, instead of gradually, it is called 
Rapture. 

The Saints who have treated of this matter 
from their own experience, say that in ecstasy 
the soul is, so to speak, separated from the 
body. This expression is very correct since 
the body becomes insensible and so, dead, as 
it were, and consequently separated from the 
soul. 



NATURE OF PRAYER 83 

They say too that in ecstasy the soul is 
separated from the spirit, understanding by 
the word soul the inferior, and by the word 
spirit, the superior part, in accordance with 
the language of Holy Writ: "For the word 
of God is living and effectual and more pierc- 
ing than any two-edged sword : and reaching 
unto the division of the soul and the spirit. 1 
This expression is again quite correct, for the 
soul in ecstasy holds converse with God after 
the manner of the angels, that is, by means of 
its intellect and will alone, while the imagi- 
nation and sensitive appetite being deprived 
of all activity are, as it were, dead and con- 
sequently as if separated from the spirit. 

In ecstasy and Rapture the knowledge of 
God is not only confused, as formerly, but 
usually clouded and yet so marvellous that 
it produces a regard for God which infinitely 
surpasses all other regards, such an ardent 
love that one would lay down one's life a 
thousand times to fulfil God's least desire. 

We see in Holy Writ that God surrounded 
Himself with darkness when He wished to 
give a high idea of His infinite greatness, which 
no intellect could understand. Thus He 

2 Heb. 4 : 12. 



84 PRACTICE OF MENTAL PRAYER 

spoke to Moses and Job from the midst of 
darkness and on the day of the dedication of 
the Temple, a cloud filled the Lord's house, 
so that Solomon cried out: " The Lord said 
that He would dwell in a cloud." x 

Something similar but of a much higher 
nature takes place in Ecstasy. 

Let us hear what the Saints say: "The 
soul," says St. Teresa, " knows that it only 
wishes its God, but it loves nothing in par- 
ticular in Him. It loves all that there is in 
Him but does not know what it loves." 2 

" I very often see God in darkness," says 
Blessed Angela of Foligno, " and in this Good 
which can neither be conceived nor expressed, 
in this most certain Good, which appears to 
me only encompassed with darkness, is placed 
all my hope. In seeing It I possess all that I 
want; in It I see all good. . . . My soul sees 
nothing of which it can speak, nothing even 
which can be conceived, and, in seeing nothing 
I yet see all things. This Good is the more 
certain the more it is obscured and it exceeds 
all things in proportion as it appears more in 
darkness and more hidden. . . . God has 

1 Exod. 19 : 9; 3 Kings 8 : 12. 

2 Vie par elk-meme, ch. 20, p. 320. 



NATURE OF PRAYER 85 

given me frequent and indescribable proofs of 
friendship. He has spoken the sweetest and 
tenderest words to me, He has overwhelmed 
me with graces and benefits; but all these 
favors are small in comparison with the 
Good which I see in this deep obscurity.' ' x 

The obscurity of the Divine Vision is not, 
however, always continuous in Ecstasy. Just 
as when the sky is clouded, the clouds part 
and let the blue sky be seen, so in Ecstasy 
God at times dispels the encircling darkness 
to disclose to the soul such exalted wonders 
oi His Divinity that no tongue can repeat 
them. 

God then wishes to arouse in the soul an 
ever-increasing desire of the Consummated 
Union, where the obscurity will permanently 
disappear, in so far, at least, as the state of 
faith allows in which one always remains here 
on earth. 

" Although God then seems a long way 
off," says St. Teresa, " yet He often dis- 
closes His sovereign Greatness in such a 
wonderful way that it surpasses all our con- 
ceptions. Words, too, are wanting to ex- 

1 Vieecrite par le frere Arnauld, ch. 4, Bollandistes t. 1, p. 197, 
nn. 172, 174. 



86 PRACTICE OF MENTAL PRAYER 

press it and it is necessary, in my opinion, 
to have experienced it, to understand and 
believe it. The end of such lofty intercourse 
is not to console, but to show the soul how 
justly it is distressed at seeing itself separated 
from the presence of a Good which includes 
within Itself all other goods/ ' x 

Nor is this all: In Ecstasy God sometimes 
discloses not only something of the unfathom- 
able depths of His Divinity, but also, in a 
secondary way, the marvels of His Omnip- 
otence in the Court of Heaven. 

St. Alphonsus Rodriguez describes one of 
these Raptures in which the soul contemplates 
some of the secrets of Heaven in the following 
passage, speaking of himself in the third per- 
son: " As he had retired to his room to medi- 
tate upon Our Lady's Death and Assumption 
and to consider the number of Angels w r ho 
assisted at it, he saw how Our Lady's most holy 
soul was transported to Heaven at the moment 
of her death, accompanied by a numerous 
band of rejoicing Angels, and how, on her 
arrival, the heavens opened to receive their 
Queen. He followed them in spirit and was 
never separated from them, so that he saw 

1 Vie par elle-meme y ch. 20, t. 1, p. 218. 



NATURE OF PRAYER 87 

the Angels enter Heaven with their precious 
treasure. This was the first feast that the 
Angels kept in honor of God's Mother after 
she had left the earth. 

11 A second feast immediately followed, for 
when the Mother of God had entered Heaven 
accompanied by this band of Angels, she was 
greeted by another countless multitude of 
heavenly spirits who were waiting for her 
as their Queen and Sovereign. What a recep- 
tion that was, what feasts and rejoicing the 
Angels made in her honor! These things 
cannot be described, for they are the feasts 
of Heaven given by its blissful inhabitants 
to their Sovereign Lady, the Mother of God 
Himself, and they can be better realized and 
understood in spirit when God communicates 
them to the soul in Rapture (for I believe this 
person was out of his senses) than they can be 
related. It is impossible for man to justly 
describe them, for he is corporal and these 
feasts are spiritual. 

" A third feast more solemn, than the pre- 
vious ones took place when the most Holy 
Virgin, after this glorious reception, was again 
transported by the Angels and presented to 
the Blessed Trinity. Then the joy and happi- 



88 PRACTICE OF MENTAL PRAYER 

ness of all the inhabitants of Heaven were so 
great that they all united in one great concert, 
after the manner of spirits and not as men. 

" This person saw the feast as though he 
had been present at it, rejoicing to find him- 
self in company with the Angels and par- 
taking of their joy. The intellects of all men 
taken together would not suffice to under- 
stand how it was done, for this feast in no way 
resembled that which is given in honor of 
earthly kings. Although there were countless 
Angels, although their place of dwelling was 
immense, although they were so scattered, 
each one enjoyed the heavenly concert and 
partook of the spiritual joy of the feast as if 
they had formed but one. And this person 
enjoyed it much, for he was in the midst of 
them. He saw them all at a glance, how they 
rejoiced and feasted in their Sovereign Lady's 
honor. 

V He also distinguished each one of these 
blessed spirits individually, as if his soul had 
been wholly and entirely at one and the same 
moment in each one and in all and he enjoyed 
to the full, without losing the least pleasure, 
the solemn feast held in honor of our Virgin 
Queen. ... As the Contemplation of these 



NATURE OF PRAYER 89 

things took place in Heaven, evidently he was 
transported and there was nothing corporeal 
about it, but all was purely spiritual. He 
does not remember how long the Rapture 
lasted." 1 

Ecstasy is exposed to more than one illusion. 
First, the devil may act upon the body, taking 
from it all the power oisensation. Those pres- 
ent, seeing the body become insensible, believe 
it is an Ecstasy, while in reality it is nothing 
but the devil's act. " When then," says St. 
Francis of Sales, " you see a person who has 
Raptures during prayer, as the result of which 
he starts out of himself and rises above him- 
self to God and yet has no Ecstasy in his life, 
in other words, does not lead a noble life of 
attachment to God by denying worldly desires, 
mortifying his will and natural inclinations 
by interior gentleness, simplicity and humility, 
and above all, by continual charity, you may 
be sure, Theotimus, that all his raptures are 
very doubtful and dangerous. They are Rap- 
tures calculated to win men's admiration, but 
not to sanctify them. For what good can 
it do a soul to be transported to God in 

1 Vie de saint Alphonse Rodriguez par lui-mdme, pp. 8-H, 
Retaux, 1890. 



90 PRACTICE OF MENTAL PRAYER 

prayer if in its conversation and life it is 
transported by worldly, base and natural 
affections? To be above oneself in prayer 
and lower than oneself in life and act, to be 
an angel in Meditation and an animal in Con- 
versation, is to hop from side to side, to swear 
by God and by Melchon; in a word it is a 
sure sign that such Raptures and Ecstasies 
are only the amusements and tricks of the 
evil spirit/ ' * 

Weakness arising from a sickly constitution, 
when the slightest thing causes a swoon, may 
be the second cause of illusion. A super- 
natural grace even of a very inferior order, 
which would only slightly affect a robust 
constitution, produces so great an effect upon 
such a nature that a fainting fit follows. 
One might be mistaken and believe it an 
Ecstasy. In order to judge correctly, remem- 
ber the two following remarks: 

A true Ecstasy usually lasts but very little 
time, while this false Ecstasy, on the contrary, 
lasts hours. In the former, the powers are 
dead to all created things, but alive, beyond 
all description, to God and things divine. On 
the other hand, in cases of fainting, the powers 

1 Amour de Dieu, i : 7, ch. 7, t. 5, p. 30, 



NATURE OF PRAYER 91 

are benumbed and receive no impression, 
neither of creatures nor of God Himself. 
When it has been proved that in a certain 
person's case Ecstasies are only fainting-fits, 
every possible means must be taken to put 
a stop to them. 

Souls raised to Ecstatic Union are not 
exempt from dryness, this trial being neces- 
sary to keep them in humility and to help 
them to purify their intention. But God 
almost always leaves them the feeling of the 
entire conformity between their will and that 
of God. This feeling has no longer any sweet- 
ness, it is true, and therefore fear, weariness, 
sadness and repugnance still continue, but 
it wonderfully strengthens the will, and the 
soul should esteem it greatly. Let not the 
soul lose sight of this precious conformity, 
but make use of it in union with Our Lord, 
Who, being sad even unto death, said: 
" Father, not My will but Thine be done! " 

Listen again to what St. Teresa says; 
11 This is the state in which my soul chances 
to find itself at rare intervals: for three, four 
or even five days, fervor, visions, in a word 
all blessings are not only taken away, but 
become so wiped from my memory that even 



92 PRACTICE OF MENTAL PRAYER 

when I try I cannot remember the least bless- 
ing that I have received. All seems to me a 
dream, in so far, at least, that I cannot remem- 
ber anything ; my bodily sufferings overwhelm 
me all at once; my spirit is troubled, I can 
entertain no thought of God, and I do not, 
in a way, know under what law I am living. 
If I read, I understand nothing of what I 
read. I see myself full of imperfections and 
without courage to acquire virtue. The great 
courage which I usually possess so entirely 
disappears that I should be unable to resist 
the least temptation, it seems to me, or any 
word that was spoken against me. The 
thought then comes to me that I am no good 
for anything and that it was a mistake to 
raise me out of the beaten track. The thought 
that I am deceiving all those who have a good 
opinion of me, saddens me, and I would like 
to go and hide myself somewhere where no 
one would see me. It is not virtue that then 
makes me long for solitude, but cowardice. 
Finally, I feel inclined to abuse all those who 
would contradict me. But in the midst of 
this struggle God grants me this grace: the 
thought that I am not offending Him more 
than usual. Far from asking Him to deliver 



NATURE OF PRAYER 93 

me from this torment, I am ready to endure 
it until the end of my life and I accept it 
with all my heart. My only prayer is that 
He may sustain me by His strength, so as 
not to offend Him in anything. Lastly, I 
consider it a very great grace that He grants 
me, not to leave me always in such a state." l 

1 Account given to St. Peter of Alcantara, Lettres de sainte 
Thirese, t. I, pp. 10, II. 



94 PRACTICE OF MENTAL PRAYER 
CHAPTER XVII 

CONSUMMATED UNION OR SPIRITUAL MARRIAGE 

Consummated Union differs from Contem- 
plation in four points : 

i. The darkness which exists in the pre- 
ceding degrees disappears, giving place to a 
clear vision of God, as far, of course, as the 
obscurity of faith, which ceases to exist only 
in Heaven, will allow. God is always seen 
in image, but this entirely spiritual image 
sometimes reaches such perfection that the 
unity of Nature and the distinction of Persons 
in the mystery of the Blessed Trinity is clearly 
seen. No Angel could effect such a wonder, 
but only God's Omnipotence, without the 
intervention of any creature. 

2. The powers of the soul are no longer 
suspended and the senses of the body preserve 
their liberty and activity. From which it 
results that he who has received this signal 
grace can converse with men, doing so as the 
Guardian Angels, whom the sight of God face 
to face does not prevent from assisting the 
souls that are entrusted to them. 



NATURE OF PRAYER 95 

And rising higher, in this Divine state the 
soul is the living, admirable, image of Our 
Lord Jesus Christ, Who while on earth en- 
joyed the Beatific Vision and yet taught His 
well-beloved Apostles and conversed famil- 
iarly with them. 

3. The union of the soul with God is no 
longer transitory, as in the preceding degrees, 
but permanent: everywhere and always the 
soul feels God dwelling within it and treating 
it with unheard-of familiarity. From time 
to time He rouses it by such loving peace 
and sweetness that no tongue can express its 
feelings, while He sometimes wounds it spirit- 
ually very deeply but quite painlessly. 

And here the question may arise whether, 
in the case of souls who have reached this 
sublime state, the permanence of the union 
is so great that they are confirmed in grace. 
The Saints are not unanimous on this point, 
but in practice the question becomes sim- 
plified, for God usually adds to the first 
benefit of Consummated Union, a second 
favor, that of a distinct revelation of salvation. 
So these souls are sure of going to Heaven, 
if not in virtue of Consummated Union, at 
least on account of revelation. 



96 PRACTICE OF MENTAL PRAYER 

St. John of the Cross thus pictures the 
delightful death of these privileged souls: 
" The death of these persons is accompanied 
by wonderful sweetness, far surpassing all 
that they have ever experienced in the whole 
of their spiritual life. They die in a state of 
Rapture wonderful to behold, and of the 
sweetest attacks of love, like the swan, whose 
song is sweetest when it is about to die. This 
it is that made David say that the death of 
the just man is precious in the sight of God. 
Floods of love then burst from the soul to be 
lost in the Divine Ocean of Love. There in 
their extent and power they seem seas." l 

4. The passions are entirely subject to the 
reason, and the reason to Cod. Divine Wis- 
dom, from time to time, permits their revolt, 
it is true, so as to remind the soul of what it 
owes to grace and thus to keep it humble. But 
these rebellions are short. The soul quells 
them and watches the tempest rage beneath it. 

These chosen ones of God are not, however, 
exempt from suffering. It could not be other- 
wise, for Our Lord, who was raised to the 
Beatific Vision, was at the same time the Man 
of Sorrows. But their suffering is accompa- 

1 Vivflamm$ d' amour, strophe 1, vers 6, t. 4, p. 478. 



NATURE OF PRAYER 97 

nied by so much peace and such entire sub- 
mission to God's Will that the suffering may 
be said to have lost its sting. 

St. Teresa describes this state, which is 
quite Divine, as follows: " Whether it be in 
Prayer of Union or in Ecstasy, Our Lord 
unites the soul to Himself, by rendering it 
blind and speechless, like St. Paul at the 
moment of his conversion. He so entirely 
deprives it of all feeling that it can understand 
neither the nature of the favor which it enjoys, 
nor how it enjoys it, since the excessive pleas- 
ure it experiences in seeing itself so close to 
God suspends all its powers. Here, God's 
action is different. In His Goodness, He 
makes the scales fall from the eyes of the soul 
in His wish that by a way, which is in truth 
most extraordinary, it should discover and 
understand something of the graces with 
which He deigns to honor it. Having ad- 
mitted it into His own dwelling place, He 
accords it an intellectual vision of the highest 
order. By representing the truth in a par- 
ticular way, the Three Persons of the Most 
Holy Trinity are shown to it. By reason of 
the wonderful power of perception which is 
then granted to it, it sees the Three Persons 



98 PRACTICE OF MENTAL PRAYER 

distinct one from the other and yet under- 
stands with supreme truth that They all Three 
are but one and the same Substance, Power, 
Wisdom and God. So that what we know 
in this world by the light of faith, the soul by 
reason of this light understands from what, 
as we may say, it has seen. . . . There the 
Three Adorable Persons are communicated to 
the soul, speaking with it and giving it to 
understand Our Lord's words in the Gospel: 
1 If any man love Me, he will keep My word, 
and My Father will love him and We will come 
to him and will make Our abode with him/ l 
" After the soul of which I have spoken 
has received this favor, its amazement grows 
daily, for it seems that these three Divine 
Persons have never left it. It sees clearly, 
in the way stated before, that the three Divine 
Persons are within its soul, in its very depths 
and, as it were, in a profound abyss. . . . 
Perhaps it seems to you, my daughters, that 
when the soul is in this state it ought to be so 
absorbed that it can give its attention to 
nothing else. You are mistaken. It turns 
more easily and more ardently than formerly 
to all which concerns God's service and as soon 

1 John 14 : 23. 



NATURE OF PRAYER 99 

as it is freed from occupations it remains in 
this pleasant company. God will never, in 
my opinion, fail to give the soul this intimate 
and manifest sight of His presence, if it re- 
mains faithful to Him." 1 
I " Do not imagine, my Sisters, that the souls 
which are united to God by the bonds of this 
Spiritual Marriage always feel the effects of 
this sublime favor to such a high degree as this. 
It is only most usually so, as I have mentioned 
when it has occurred to me to do so. Our Lord 
sometimes leaves them in their ordinary state 
and it seems to them that then all the venom- 
ous animals which are in the neighborhood of 
the castle or in the castle itself, unite together 
to avenge themselves on these souls for the 
time when they were unable to attack them. 
It is true that this state of things does not 
last for more than a day and this great trouble, 
usually brought about by some unexpected 
incident, makes the soul realize how much 
it gains by living in the company of its God. 
Strengthened by its Divine Spouse, the soul 
not only remains firm in its good resolutions 
and faithful to all which concerns His service, 
but feels more than ever determined to serve 

1 Ch&teau intirieur, f demeure, ch. I, t. .3, pp. 530, 531, 532. 



100 PRACTICE OF MENTAL PRAYER 

Him, without even being overcome by a first 
movement. This trial, as I have just said, 
is sent only at rare intervals. Our Lord's 
wish. in sending it is first, that the sight of 
their own nothingness may always keep these 
souls humble; and secondly, that the knowl- 
edge of what they owe Him and the sub- 
limity of the favor with which He honors 
them, may oblige them to praise Him more 
and more.' ' x 

This state of Spiritual Marriage is the 
highest to which one can attain on earth. This 
does not mean, however, that all the souls who 
attain to it are more perfect than the canon- 
ized Saints who have not. Sanctity of state 
does not indeed always bring about an equal 
proportion of personal sanctity. It is a matter 
of faith, for instance, that the state of virginity 
is more perfect than the married state, and yet 
there are married women who are more holy 
than those in a state of virginity. So let not 
souls raised to so sublime a state rest there 
as if they had arrived at their goal, which is 
Heaven; but let them exert themselves to 
make progress in sanctity, in the same way as 
the dawn grows to mid-day in a cloudless sky. 

1 Chdteau interieur, 7* demeure, ch. 4, t. 3, pp. 553, 554. 



NATURE OF PRAYER 101 
CHAPTER XVIII 

THE WOUNDS CAUSED BY LOVE 

The wounds caused by love are not the 
same in nature as visions and revelations, 
which do not of themselves make us holy. 1 

These wounds form part of Contemplative 
Graces which increase the sanctity of the soul 
receiving them. They are very powerful in 
inflaming the heart with a love of wonderful 
purity and ardor, and ought to be much es- 
teemed. Divine Goodness grants them in 
general only to those souls who have attained 
to perfect Contemplation and so it is fitting 
that they should be spoken of here. 

The wound caused by love is essentially 
spiritual, that is, it is always felt in the higher 
part of the soul. In reality it is a sublime 
kind of spiritual touch of which mention has 
been made before. 2 

Most often, this wound is made only in the 
spirit, but sometimes the body too is wounded. 
This latter is generally effected by an Angel, 
as in the case of St. Francis' sacred stigmata 

1 See Part 4, ch. 1. 2 Se© Part 1, Ch. 6. 



102 PRACTICE OF MENTAL PRAYER 

which were imprinted by a Seraph, and the 
pain which results becomes more intense in 
proportion as the interior joy increases. At 
length, a thrice blessed moment arrives when 
all the soul's suffering disappears and one 
seems to have found perfect happiness, al- 
though the body endures fearful torment. 
God wishes by this means to show His infinite 
Power, which can make a soul unspeakably 
happy amid the ocean of bodily suffering in 
which it is plunged. 

" Then," says St. John of the Cross, " the 
more intense the delight and the force of love 
causing the interior wound, the greater too 
the suffering of the external wound ; one grows 
in proportion to the other . . . O immense 
Greatness, which showest Thyself omnipotent 
in all that Thou dost! Who, O Lord, if not 
Thou, could fill with sweetness in the midst 
of bitterness; with joys, in the midst of tor- 
ments." l 

The wound in St. Teresa's heart, the feast 
of which is celebrated on August 27, was both 
spiritual and corporal. The corporal wound 
is venerated in the monastery of Albe where 

1 Vive flamme d y amour, strophe 2, vers 2, (Euvres, t. 4, pp. 
499 1 500- 



NATURE OF PRAYER 103 

the upper part of the heart seems pierced hori- 
zontally. The Saint describes the mysteri- 
ous mixture of joy and suffering which accom- 
panies the wound in these terms: " Close 
beside me on my left I saw an Angel under 
a bodily form. ... He was not tall, but small 
and very beautiful. It was evident from his 
face all aglow with light, that he was one of 
the spirits of a very high choir, who are 
apparently only fire and love, and this one 
was apparently one of those called cherubim. 
... In this Angel' s hand I saw a long golden 
dart, the point of which was of iron, tipped 
with fire. From time to time he thrust it 
through my heart, right down to my entrails, 
which it seemed to me he removed when 
withdrawing the dart and left me all inflamed 
with love of God. The pain of this wound 
was so sharp that it forced from me the faint 
moans of which I spoke but now. Yet this 
indescribable martyrdom made me experience 
at the same time the sweetest joys. Besides, 
I could neither wish it to cease nor find any 
happiness outside of my God. It is not a 
corporal, but entirely spiritual suffering, al- 
though the body does not cease to partake of 
it to a great degree. An intercourse of love 



104 PRACTICE OF MENTAL PRAYER 

then exists between the soul and God, so 
delightful that it is impossible to describe 
it." i 

In this wound caused by love, the suffering 
is seen not only to have been bodily, but more 
especially spiritual. This arose from the fact 
that the Saint's soul was not entirely cleansed 
of its numerous imperfections, which more 
or less impede the arrow of the Holy Ghost. 
St. Teresa was then forty-four years of age. 
Seventeen years later, when God had entirely 
purified her by the purgatory which she 
describes in the twentieth chapter of her life, 
the dart of love met no obstacle and the 
spiritual wound, for the future free from suffer- 
ing, became the source of delights of such 
heavenly sweetness that no tongue could 
describe them. 

The Saint thus describes it under the name 
of the Penetrating Touch: " If it happens that 
they (the souls raised to the grace of Spiritual 
Marriage) are not attentive to the presence 
of their Divine Spouse, He Himself rouses 
them and they see quite clearly that this 
intimate transport (I know not what other 
name to give it) arises from the interior of the 

1 Vie par elle-meme, ch. 29, pp. 360, 361. 



NATURE OF PRAYER 105 

soul like those impetuous transports of which 
we have spoken. This outburst so full of 
sweetness proceeds neither from the spirit 
nor the memory nor from anything to which 
the soul lends the slightest cooperation. The 
soul feels it so often that it very easily notices 
it. . . . All pain that could be endured here be- 
low would be still, to my mind, too generously 
rewarded by these so sweet and penetrating 
touches of His love." l 

St. John of the Cross pictures the perfect 
wound caused by love in somewhat different 
terms: " The soul experiences somewhat the 
same sensation as if a grain of mustard almost 
imperceptible, but yet endowed with great 
properties and burning power, had been placed 
in the very depths of the spirit which has been 
wounded. The substance and force of the 
grain are then secretly spread through all the 
soul's spiritual veins with all the power and 
ardor which it contains. Its love increases, 
develops and becomes so inflamed that it 
seems to see within it seas of fire filling it 
throughout with love. . . . Few souls, indeed, 
reach such high perfection, but yet some are 
found. They are especially those whose vir- 

1 Chateau interieur, y e demeure, ch. 3, p. 548. 



106 PRACTICE OF MENTAL PRAYER 

tue and spirit must be perpetuated to the 
spiritual children who are to succeed them." l 

The souls favored by this wound of love 
in such a high degree are in reality extremely 
rare, but yet in the Church, the Spouse of 
Jesus Christ, there will always be souls 
wounded in a wonderful way by the Holy 
Ghost, whose prayers are exceptionally power- 
ful with God. The spiritual wound of love 
in such souls follows the course which we have 
just described: it begins by a mixture of joy 
and suffering; then the pain caused by im- 
perfections gradually diminishes until it disap- 
pears, while delight increases. As regards the 
bodily sufferings which sometimes accompany 
the spiritual wound, ^they generally increase. 
These souls have a positive need of direction 
and support, especially in the beginning. 

The wound of love is always accompanied 
by exceptional virtue. What then must be 
thought of a pious person who has exteriorly 
the stigmata and no extraordinary degree of 
virtue? It would be a contradiction of what 
the Saints tell us of themselves or of others 
and consequently such a favor is to be mis- 
trusted, since its author may be the devil. 

1 Vive fiamme oV amour, strophe 2, vers 2, t. 4, pp. 497, 498. 



NATURE OF PRAYER 107 

CHAPTER XIX 

god's works may be the object of infused 
contemplation 

It sometimes happens during Contempla- 
tion that the Holy Ghost sheds a precious 
light upon the soul with regard to Our Lord's 
life, the meaning of a verse of Scripture, in a 
word, on some revealed truth. Such knowl- 
edge is an entirely free gift which the Divine 
Goodness grants as and where it wills. 

More usually, however, the contemplative 
soul enjoys only a general, loving view of God, 
when, in undisturbed peace, it drinks long 
draughts of the living waters of wisdom and 
love. Yet from time to time a new light does 
not fail to rise upon a mystery, as for instance 
on Our Lord's Nativity. God and the mys- 
tery are then seen in the same light of wisdom 
which, like a sun shining with knowledge and 
bathed in love, shows the soul how admirable 
is the Creator of all things and His work, and 
how worthy of being loved. This elevated 
way of learning to know the mysteries of faith 
in admiration and love admits of two degrees 
of perfection. 



108 PRACTICE OF MENTAL PRAYER 

In the first, wisdom discovers nothing new 
to the understanding, but gently recalls to the 
memory truths already learnt in previous 
reading and meditation. St. Jane Frances 
de Chantal mentions this in a question put 
to St. Francis of Sales: " I do not want to 
forget this, because I have often been troubled 
about it. All preachers and all good books 
teach that one should consider and meditate 
upon Our Lord's benefits to man, His Great- 
ness, our Redemption, especially when Holy 
Church places them before us. Yet the soul, 
which is in the above state, cannot do so in any 
way in spite of the will to make the effort and 
is often troubled on this account. But still 
it seems to do so in a very good way by simply 
recalling or picturing the mystery with much 
tenderness, and with sweet and attractive 
affections." * 

The second degree is much superior; not 
only does the sweet and warm light of wisdom 
illumine what was already known, but the 
Holy Ghost further discovers wonderful secrets 
which were unknown. As to cooperation 
with this grace, the soul at first only responds 
by admiration and silence, allowing time for 

1 (Euvres, Plon, 1845, t. 2, p. 45. 



NATURE OF PRAYER 109 

this new knowledge to become imprinted upon 
the understanding. Afterwards it praises 
God for the incomparable beauty of His works 
and having enjoyed both affective and effect- 
ive love, it surrenders itself to Him Who has 
enraptured it. 

Formerly, when the soul succeeded by 
means of reason or reflection in discovering 
by its own effort something which made it 
know its subject a little more, it found pleasure 
and spiritual profit in it. Now that a new 
light has risen, that which it could learn by 
means of a reasoned discourse seems very 
poor in comparison with what it sees and feels. 
It feels no attraction for the old method. 

There is, however, one point on which in- 
fused light is as a rule insufficient: that of 
the details of practical resolutions. God does 
not usually disclose to a contemplative soul 
in a direct way all the means which it must 
take to correct its faults and to acquire the vir- 
tues which it lacks. He leaves it to act itself 
by reflection and reasoning. 

Serious attention must be given to this both 
during prayer and at other times, when the 
grace of Contemplation has disappeared for 
a time. 



110 PRACTICE OF MENTAL PRAYER 

This excellent way of learning to know 
Our Lord's life and the sayings of Scripture 
is present in all degrees of extraordinary 
prayer, from Supernatural Recollection to 
Consummated Union, but not in the same 
perfectness. The knowledge is by so much 
the more perfect as the corresponding prayer 
is of a higher degree. St. Ignatius, in a letter 
to St. Francis Borgia, points out how most 
precious light with regard to the respect due 
to Holy Church and those who rule her is shed 
upon the soul raised to perfect Contemplation. 
His words are: " The happiest and most 
beatific (method of prayer) in this life, that 
which leads directly to, and is immediately 
connected with, life eternal is the method 
adopted by those who closely embrace those 
holy gifts of which I have spoken and who are 
closely united to them. By these gifts I mean 
those which it is not within our power to pos- 
sess just when we wish, but which are only 
granted by the Giver of all good things and 
Whose Almighty Power surpasses every gift : 
such, for instance, with reference to the Divine 
Majesty, as an intense faith, hope and charity 
. . . elevation of spirit, Divine impressions 
and illuminations and all other spiritual 



NATURE OF PRAYER 111 

pleasures and sentiments relative to such 
gifts, as humility and a profound respect for 
Holy Mother Church, for those who govern 
her and for her teachers." x 

St. Teresa uses the following words when 
speaking of that special and more elevated 
knowledge which the soul receives in perfect 
Contemplation: " As far as I can judge, the 
soul is entirely out of itself and God then dis- 
closes wonderful things to it. When it has 
returned to itself, it draws so much advantage 
from the marvellous things which it has seen, 
that all that is earthly seems to it but mud. 
It thus conceives such a disdain for what it 
formerly held in esteem that it supports life 
only with pain. God seems to have wished 
to teach it something of the beauty and rich- 
ness of that happy country where it will one 
day dwell; just as by means of the spies sent 
by the Israelites, He made known to His 
people the fertility of the Promised Land. 
He acts in the same way towards this soul 
in order that it may joyously bear the weari- 
ness of so painful a journey, having obtained 
a view of that happy goal where eternal rest 
awaits it." 2 

1 Lettres, Lettre 58, p. 269. 

8 Chdteau interieur^ 6 e demeure, ch. 5, t. 3, p. 465. 



112 PRACTICE OF MENTAL PRAYER 

But nothing equals the perfection which 
these special ideas attain in mystic Consum- 
mated Union. There they seem bathed in 
indescribable light, cloudless peace and never- 
ending rest. Here is what St. Ignatius has 
left in his private notes found after his death : 
11 I did not, as on the previous days, see the 
Three Persons (of the adorable Trinity) dis- 
tinct, but in a brilliant light, One Essence 
which attracted me wholly and entirely to 
Its Love. In the same way I felt as if I were 
under the shelter and guidance of Jesus, which 
did not in any way diminish my total union 
with the Divine Majesty; on the contrary, 
this union rather increased.' ' * 

In short, in extraordinary prayer the knowl- 
edge of a mystery, say the Nativity, is never 
separated from a general loving view of God, 
but these two distinct objects appear, as it 
were, x bathed in the same light of wisdom. 

When the sun rises above the horizon, its 
pleasant, timid rays light up at one and the 
same moment both the infinite space of the 
heavens and the object under our eyes. 
Nevertheless, the sight of the heavens arouses 
a much deeper admiration than that of the 

1 Bollandistc, Vie de St. Ignace, t. 34, p. 540, n. 628. 



NATURE OF PRAYER 113 

object. It is the same in Contemplation: 
Wisdom, like to a sun shining with knowledge, 
is enkindled with love, illuminating both the 
infinite perfections of Our Lord's Divinity 
and Nativity: but the general view of God 
arouses an incomparably greater admiration 
than the special view of this mystery. "These 
two kinds of knowledge/' says St. John of the 
Cross, " are a source of power to the soul; yet 
nothing is to be compared to the joy which 
the knowledge of God procures. Words fail 
to express the rapturous delight one drinks 
in in Him." l 

This method, namely by means of Contem- 
plation, of learning about the mysteries of the 
Life and Death of Our Lord Jesus Christ, is 
very perfect and sanctifying. The soul fa- 
vored with this grace should receive it humbly 
and gratefully and esteem it most highly, 

1 Montee du Carmel, i : 2, ch. 26, t. 2, p. 317. 



PART II 

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THE VARIOUS TRIALS 117 



CHAPTER I 

PENETRATING SIGHT OF ONE'S SINS. FEELING 
OF HAVING BEEN ABANDONED BY GOD 

Contemplation is a great exaltation for 
the soul, since it is the beginning of eternal 
beatitude and makes it converse with God 
after the manner of the Angels. Hence he who 
has been called to this remarkable favor must 
be extremely humble, for it is written : ! 'Every- 
one that exalteth himself shall be humbled: 
and he that humbleth himself shall be ex- 
alted." i 

The soul's efforts, accompanied by ordinary 
grace, will not be enough to gain such humility 
— God's all-powerful hand must come in. To 
this end He sheds a penetrating, supernatural 
light upon the soul which shows it its least 
defects and so covers it with confusion. 

Nor is that all, for this same light further un- 
veils to it God's infinite greatness, and the soul 
thus experiences in the beginning an inexplic- 
able uneasiness, like that of a pretentious ig- 
noramus in the presence of a great scholar. 

1 Luke 18 : 14. 



118 PRACTICE OF MENTAL PRAYER 

Sometimes this constraint increases to such an 
extent that the soul becomes crushed beneath 
the weight of the Divine Majesty. Later on, 
just as the ignorant man made timid by the 
learned professor finishes by losing the easy 
use of his faculties, so the soul overwhelmed 
by God's Greatness, loses the easy use of its 
memory, understanding and will. 

Let us hear what St. John of the Cross says: 
14 God alone is the author of this painful situ- 
ation, in which the soul can do nothing. In- 
capable of giving itself to prayer or lending 
continuous attention to things spiritual, it is 
equally powerless in attending to temporal 
matters. While plunged in profound abstrac- 
tion, its memory is often at fault and whole 
minutes elapse before it knows whether it has 
done or thought such and such a thing. In 
spite of all its efforts, it cannot fix its mind on 
the present action, nor on that which is to 
follow." i 

This supernatural light shows the soul not 
only God's infinite Greatness, but also His 
spotless Purity, and the soul feels kept at a 
distance; just as the man in the street feels 
instinctively cut off from the King's palace. 

1 Nmt obscure, I : 2, ch. 8, (Euvres, t. 3, p. 368. 



THE VARIOUS TRIALS 119 

In a word the soul sees God's infinite Justice 
in a supernatural way by means of this light 
and is as terrified as a great criminal before 
his judge. 

In short, the soul by comparing God's in- 
finite Greatness with its own small ness, His 
infinite Purity with its defilement, His infinite 
Holiness with its iniquities, loses all feeling 
of hope and believes that it can never reach 
familiarity with God. This is the pain of 
despair. All souls called to Contemplation 
pass, to a greater or less degree, through this 
trial of rejection by God and of despair, but 
with souls called to perfect Contemplation it 
attains an intensity which goes as far as a feel- 
ing of reprobation and recalls to mind the 
pains of Hell. Listen again to what St. John 
of the Cross says: " This kind of torture and 
suffering is beyond all description. . . . The 
afflicted soul sees itself the object of God's 
aversion and its torment is increased by the 
firm conviction that the Lord has taken a dis- 
gust for it, entirely abandoned it and, in con- 
sequence, cast it into darkness. This thought 
is the cause of the most acute and indescrib- 
able suffering to it. ... In the midst of the 
oppression of this Contemplation, which puri- 



120 PRACTICE OF MENTAL PRAYER 

fies it, the soul sees itself under the shadow of 
death. It seems to share the agony and tor- 
tures of Hell, that is, it feels deprived of God, 
punished and repelled by Him, and it bears 
the whole weight of His wrath. To this 
present state is joined a fearful dread, the 
thought that it will always last." x 

But God, to Whom such a so'ul is especially 
dear, does not wish that it should die, but live. 
He plunges it into this abyss of humiliation 
so as to humble it, but at the same time He 
lifts it up in a wonderful way, by enkindling 
in its heart a burning fire of charity, whose 
flames leap up unceasingly. These flames are 
recognized by the fact that the soul which is 
submitted to this terrible trial remains quite 
detached from creatures, always keeps its 
thoughts fixed on God, preserves an unbroken 
desire to please Him and an abiding deter- 
mination to conquer itself in all things from 
love of Him. This constant desire, it is true, 
is a restless one, since the soul, overwhelmed 
by the penetrating sight of its faults, thinks 
that in all that it does it displeases God, 
Whom it would wish so much to love, but 
this persistent anxiety detracts in no way 

1 Nuit obscure, i : 2, ch. 6, t. 3, pp. 350, 351. 



THE VARIOUS TRIALS 121 

either from the purity or force of its love. 
This burning love, resulting not from lengthy 
reflections, but from what the Holy Ghost has 
divinely shed upon the soul, is a powerful 
force in raising it from dejection. 

An unerring direction is, however, neces- 
sary at such a time and the choice of it de- 
pends both upon the persons and the circum- 
stances. 

St. Francis of Sales prayed thus in his great 
temptation to despair: " My God, if I am not 
to love Thee in Heaven, I wish at least to 
love Thee upon earth/ ' Others have imitated 
him. 

The same Saint so directed St. Jane Frances 
of Chantal during her great interior suffering 
that confidence was aroused in her by means 
of love. Here is the summary of his great 
principle: " The more we love God the more 
He loves us in return and consequently the 
greater may be the peace in which we dwell/ ' l 

Venerable Father de la Colombiere directed 
souls subjected to this test in another manner: 
he wished to see them throw themselves into 
the ocean of God's mercy, Who would be 

1 Vie de sainte Jeanne de Chantal, par la mere de Changy, 
deuxieme partie, ch. 32. (Euvres, Plon, t. 1, p. 327. 



122 PRACTICE OF MENTAL PRAYER 

more glorified in proportion as they were more 
filled with miseries. 1 

The same thought consoled him personally 
in his interior suffering. 2 

If the attraction of grace does not suggest 
any special mode of direction, the ordinary 
method must be followed, which St. Alphon- 
sus Liguori thus formulates: " Entire resig- 
nation to the Divine Will by offering oneself 
without reserve to endure all these sufferings 
and even greater ones for as long as it shall 
please God." 3 

The pain of which we speak does not make 
itself felt in prayer only, but also in the midst 
of one's active life. However, as the daily 
occupations always offer some distraction, it 
is in prayer that the suffering is especially 
keen. It then happens that the pain caused 
by God's abandonment becomes so acute that 
it partially consumes the powers of the soul, 
which can only do two things, moan and 
resign itself, following Our Lord's example, 
Who said in the Garden: " Father, Thy will, 

1 Cf. Lettres du Ven. P. de la Colombihre, 11. 43, 44. 

2 Retraite spirituelle du V. P. de la Colombiere, Premiere 
Semaine. 

3 Homo apostolicus, App. 1, De oratione contemplations, 
n. 10, in fine, 



THE VARIOUS TRIALS 123 

not Mine be done," and on the Cross: " My 
God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me? " 

It still remains to say a few words as to the 
time when this terrible trial makes its appear- 
ance and as to its duration. God does not 
usually send a soul such interior suffering 
unless He has prepared it for it by heavenly 
delights; otherwise it would not have the 
necessary courage to come out victorious. 
As to the duration, it is always long, that is, 
it lasts several years. 

During this long period, the trial presents 
itself in three different ways : There are some- 
times intermittent periods of consolation; 
sometimes rays of joy break the cloud of 
suffering at rare intervals ; and lastly the 
desolation is sometimes permanent and not 
one drop of dew falls from Heaven. 

One sometimes meets souls who, having 
received once for all some supernatural con- 
solation, afterwards remain in the state of 
anguish just mentioned for the rest of their 
lives. These souls may be recognized by 
their overflowing humility, which springs 
naturally from an abyss of confusion, and by 
their love of God, the flames of which shoot 
up unceasingly from the fire enkindled and 



124 PRACTICE OF MENTAL PRAYER 

fed by the Holy Ghost. The vocation of 
these blessed souls is to preserve in the Church 
the image of Our Lord's agony, but they are 
very few in number. In the immense ma- 
jority of cases, the trial ceases after a few 
years. 

This terrible interior pain has received 
different names: St. John of the Cross calls 
it " The Dark Night; " St. Francis of Sales, 
" Death of the Will; " St. Alphonsus, " Super- 
natural Aridity; " whilst the greater number 
of writers use the general term " Purification 
of the soul raised to the mystic state." 

St. Alphonsus sums up the question in the 
following masterful words: "It is a certain 
Divine light by which God makes the soul 
recognize its nothingness. 

" Here the soul finds itself in a sort of ter- 
rible agony, for although it be more determined 
then to overcome itself and more anxious to 
please God, yet the more it recognizes its im- 
perfections, the more it seems rejected by God 
and abandoned for having abused the benefits 
received. Much more, even the spiritual 
exercises which it performs, such as prayer, 
mortifications, Communions, increase its sad- 
ness. Indeed as it only accomplishes these 



THE VARIOUS TRIALS 125 

things with pain and great disgust, it thinks 
they all deserve punishment and that on their 
account it becomes more hateful to God. 
Besides, it often seems to these souls that they 
hate God above all things and that this is the 
cause why God punishes them as His enemies 
and makes them already feel in this life the 
pains of the damned and of being abandoned 
by God. And sometimes God allows this 
desolation to be accompanied by a thousand 
other temptations and impulses to impurity, 
anger, blasphemy, disbelief, and above all, to 
despair. Then these poor souls, who are 
plunged in great darkness and confusion, can- 
not distinguish the resistance of the will, 
which really exists, but remains hidden from 
them or at least doubtful, on account of the 
actual darkness. They therefore fear lest 
they have consented and consider themselves 
all the more abandoned by God. 1 . . . " 

Let the Director exhort this desolate soul 
not to lose courage, but to wait for great things 
from God Who is leading it by the safest road, 
the way of the Cross. 

Let him teach it also first to humiliate itself 
as deserving of this treatment from God, on 

1 Homme apostolique, App. I, n. 9. 



126 PRACTICE OF MENTAL PRAYER 

account of the faults of its past life; then, to 
keep perfectly resigned to the Divine Will, 
showing itself quite ready to suffer all this and 
even more, as long as it shall please God ; and 
lastly, to cast itself, as though dead, into the 
arms of God's mercy, and leave itself entirely 
to the protection of the Most Holy Virgin 
Mary, who is rightly called: " Mother of 
mercy and consoler of the afflicted." x 

1 Homme apostolique, App. i, n. 10. 



THE VARIOUS TRIALS 127 

CHAPTER II 
SECOND trial: spiritual aridity 

God's custom is to grant the great grace 
of Contemplation in a stable manner only- 
after He has tested the soul as He tested 
Abraham. He wishes to see, as St. Ignatius 
says, whether it is able to make progress in 
His service and work for His glory, when 
deprived of these abundant consolations and 
special favors which are not its by right. 
Further, in order that privileged souls may 
preserve their humility, they need to learn by 
experience that the birth and preservation of 
the grace of Contemplation in no way depends 
upon them, but that it is a free gift from the 
Divine Goodness. 1 

Such are the two reasons which explain this 
undeniable fact. Very often, especially in the 
beginning, the grace of Contemplation is with- 
drawn from souls which have just received it. 

What are they to do when the grace of Con- 
templation disappears? Two cases present 
themselves : 

1 Spiritual Exercises, Discernment of Spirits, Week i, Rule 9. 



128 PRACTICE OF MENTAL PRAYER 

i. The supernatural state disappears en- 
tirely and the soul returns to its ordinary- 
state, but without any special aridity. Then, 
since the soul is reduced to the usual state, it 
is clear that it ought to pray in the same way 
as souls who have received no grace of 
Contemplation, namely, give its time to dis- 
tinct acts of the intellect and will. Yet here 
a reservation must be made. It would be 
extremely severe to oblige such souls to retain 
nothing of the past Contemplation, not even 
the memory. These souls privileged by God, 
who have tasted the joys of Contemplation, 
remember the peace they enjoyed and are led 
to seek God in rest. Their memory records 
the sweets of Divine love and they long to 
revive them by devoting more time to affec- 
tions than to reflections. This two-fold at- 
traction, coming from the Holy Ghost, must 
be respected. 

2. Not only does the supernatural state 
entirely disappear, but the soul languishes in 
complete dryness. The virtues, faith, hope, 
charity and the rest, are paralyzed, as it were. 
One of St. Ignatius' s metaphors helps us to 
understand this state : a perfectly healthy eye 
sees with difficulty where the light is poor; in 



THE VARIOUS TRIALS 129 

the same way these virtues, even when pos- 
sessed in a high degree, can make their acts 
only with great difficulty, since the motive 
grace is very weak. What is to be done then? 
Let the soul begin by making an act of faith 
and place itself in the presence of God, then 
make some reflections as well as possible, 
especially some prayers and affections. God 
does not ask for the impossible, but is satisfied 
with acts of humility, confidence, resignation, 
conformity to His Will, infinitely just, holy 
and worthy of being loved, even although 
these different acts seem to come only from 
the lips. 

This is the method followed by St. Mary 
Magdalen de Pazzi in the long dryness which 
followed her numerous ecstasies: " She was 
seen," says Fr. Cepari, " at the foot of the 
Blessed Sacrament, sometimes rosary in hand, 
sometimes reading vocal prayers, sometimes 
following the history of the Passion or the life 
of some Saint, and she was obliged to have 
recourse to this method, even for her thanks- 
giving after Holy Communion. One day she 
said to one of her sisters : ' The soul which 
has tasted how sweet the Lord is, must in very 
truth love the Cross and have become mis- 



130 PRACTICE OF MENTAL PRAYER 

tress of itself, if it is to continue to serve God 
in time of dryness as it did in time of Con- 
solation.' " * 

1 Vie de sainte Marie Madeleine de Pazzi, par le P. C£pari, 
S. J. f ch. 26, PSrisse, t. 2, p. 172. 



THE VARIOUS TRIALS 131 

CHAPTER III 

THIRD TRIAL: TEMPTATIONS OF THE DEVIL 

A king does not alight at the house of one 
of his subjects unless it is richly furnished; 
God does not visit a soul to unite Himself 
with it in a very special manner unless it be 
adorned with exceptional virtues. Now the 
great virtues are the portion of those who have 
heroically triumphed over the opposite temp- 
tations. This is the reason why God allows 
the devil to specially tempt the souls who have 
received the gift of Contemplation and gener- 
ously correspond with it. 

The virtues attacked are first, the theologi- 
cal virtues: Faith, by doubts as regards re- 
vealed truths; hope, by despair; charity by 
revolt against God and the spirit of blas- 
phemy. Then come the temptations against 
moral virtues, that is temptations to anger, 
pride, gluttony, lust, independence, jealousy 
and the rest. 

All these temptations are usually found in 
souls which are making serious progress in 
Contemplation; so there must be no surprise 



132 PRACTICE OF MENTAL PRAYER 

when they come; nay, rather, one may 
prophesy without fear of mistake, that they 
will come sooner or later. 

They then attack the soul with such intense 
violence that it often fears lest it has given 
consent to them and lost grace. This painful 
doubt becomes the greatest suffering in this 
terrible struggle. The best remedy is to lay 
all bare, in perfect Christian simplicity, to a 
learned, prudent, and experienced Confessor. 
The light given by the Confessor, and more 
still, the humility of the soul which lays itself 
perfectly bare will, one day or another, obtain 
for it the grace of victory. 

These temptations are not storms of a few 
hours nor even of a few days; they generally 
last years. St. Mary Magdalen de Pazzi 
underwent all their fearful attacks for a period 
of five years. 1 Generosity, then, is not 
enough to gain the victory. In addition 
there must be exceptional patience and per- 
severance. Let the soul constantly renew its 
wavering courage in the pious hope that God 
will do great things in it after the victory. 
Then, the more it has struggled, the more its 

1 Vie de sainte Marie Madeleine de Pazzi, par le P. C£pari, 
S. J., ch. 6, P6risse, t. i, p. 112. 



THE VARIOUS TRIALS 133 

virtue will shine with unspeakable brightness ; 
then will the joys of peace succeed the trials 
of the past struggle and its God will come 
again to unite Himself to it in an indescribable 
and loving intimacy. 

Either as the result of the violence of. the 
temptations or of their duration, many de- 
fects, which until then had remained hidden, 
will become exteriorly apparent, it is true, to 
men's eyes and lessen the reputation for vir- 
tue which the contemplative soul enjoyed. 
Let it profit of such a favorable opportunity 
of offering God the entire sacrifice of its repu- 
tation ; let it humiliate itself at the sight of so 
many defects of which it was ignorant and 
look upon itself as the most unworthy of all; 
and lastly, let it gratefully receive the warn- 
ings given it and make serious efforts to cor- 
rect its defects. If it really enters upon this 
road of abnegation it will make more progress 
in a month, in spite of the small faults com- 
mitted, than it would have done in a year of 
unbroken peace. The soldier who becomes 
covered with dust in the midst of the fray 
wins more in heroism and bravery than he 
who rests spick and span guarding the bag- 
gage. 



134 PRACTICE OF MENTAL PRAYER 

Here is what we read in the^life of St. Mary 
Magdalen de Pazzi: u It would be difficult to 
explain the disgust and repugnance with which 
the devil inspired her for any command that 
was given her. He sometimes used such force 
that she could not prevent herself from 
answering her Mother Prioress: No, Mother, 
I cannot do what you bid. But she had 
hardly uttered these words than she used to 
burst into tears and loud protestations that 
she would rather lose her life than disobey 
her Superiors. Then throwing herself at the 
Mother's knees, she would renew her vows. 
This Mother, in spite of the compassion she 
felt for the Saint, was God's instrument, and 
wished to effect the Saint's advancement in 
virtue by these trials. Thus the Mother used 
to humiliate her deeply before all the Sisters 
and impose severe penances upon her; but 
the Saint used to submit to anything with a 
look of happiness which greatly edified the 
community. At last, when the five years 
of trial had elapsed, all these temptations 
ceased.' ' x 

This would be the place to point out 

1 Vie de sainte Marie Madeleine de Pazzi, par le P. CSpari, 
S. J., ch. 6, P£risse, t. I, pp, 128, 129, 



THE VARIOUS TRIALS 135 

the special means which help in the struggle 
against the different temptations, but the 
point is treated in a great number of ascetic 
works which may be consulted, so I shall say 
nothing more on the subject. 



136 PRACTICE OF MENTAL PRAYER 



CHAPTER IV 

FOURTH TRIAL: DOUBT AS TO THE TRUTH OF 
THE SUPERNATURAL GRACES RECEIVED 

As long as the Contemplation lasts, the 
soul does not doubt of its happiness; it feels 
sure that it is God working within it; but 
when this delightful moment is past, uneasi- 
ness takes possession of it and it wonders 
whether it has not been the victim of an 
illusion. That trial is universal, and when a 
soul does not experience it, the greatest 
reserve must be shown in attributing what 
takes place within it to a good spirit. 

Yet from where can this suffering, so bitter 
for the contemplative soul, arise? First, its 
doubts are the natural consequence of the 
clear view which it has of its faults. Sunk, 
as it is, in an abyss of confusion, it cannot 
believe that God is so kindly and lovingly 
disposed towards it. Secondly, the devil 
tries with all his might to increase its per- 
plexities. Experience has taught him that 
as long as a soul is perturbed and tossed by 
these doubts, the graces which it receives 



THE VARIOUS TRIALS 137 

only produce a part of their sanctifying 
effects. Lastly, God, for His part, allows 
them in order to keep the soul humble and 
wisely reserved in its judgments. If it had 
no doubts, it would become, in its positive 
consciousness of graces received, too positive 
in its ideas and too decisive in speech. 

When St. John of the Cross was asked his 
opinion as to the spirit guiding a certain 
nun in prayer, he answered that he could not 
regard her spirit as the true spirit of God 
" because she is imprudently secure and not 
sufficiently fearful of being led into interior 
error, whilst the spirit of God never proceeds 
without this salutary fear so as to preserve 
the soul from evil, as the Wise Man said." l 

In order to conquer this trial, it is of the 
utmost necessity to choose a learned, prudent 
and experienced Director and obey him 
blindly. Then this triumphant answer can 
be made to the tempter: Like a child I am 
obeying him whom God has given me as a 
guide; he has told me not to doubt, so I have 
no doubts. This simple way of submitting 
one's judgment seems quite in conformity 
with God's designs for the soul: He wishes, 

1 Lettres spirituelles, t. I, p. 355. 



138 PRACTICE OF MENTAL PRAYER 

indeed, to make it humble, modest and do- 
cile. 

But if a soul tormented by this uneasiness, 
which at times becomes terrible, has at hand 
no Director capable of successfully guiding 
it, what is to be done? If it is a soul con- 
secrated to God in the religious life, the 
Superiors must procure it an interview with 
a Confessor who is experienced in these 
matters. Thus it was that St. Teresa was 
first reassured by St. Francis Borgia and after- 
wards by St. Peter of Alcantara. If the per- 
son in question is perfectly free, he must 
himself seek out a prudent guide. Until such 
a one has been found, he must wait, trusting 
in Divine Providence, which cannot fail him. 



THE VARIOUS TRIALS 139 



CHAPTER V 

FIFTH TRIAL: A MYSTERIOUS SUFFERING IN 
WHICH JOY AND PAIN ARE BOTH UNITED 
AND WHERE THE SOUL IS PURIFIED AS IN 
A PURGATORY 

The holy souls in Purgatory reach Heaven 
only after having been entirely purified in 
this place of suffering ; the chosen soul arrives 
at Contemplation — the beginning of celestial 
happiness — only after being purified in an 
earthly purgatory. 

A somewhat similar pain is experienced in 
both these purgatories. 

In the Purgatory of the other world, God 
discloses to the souls detained there His 
infinite Beauty, which attracts them with a 
power that no intellect can understand; but 
alas! the defilement of these souls is an ob- 
stacle to the much longed for union with God. 
It is the suffering of the paralytic, parched 
to death and yet not able to take one step 
towards the source of living water under his 
eyes. 

In the earthly purgatory, God discloses 



140 PRACTICE OF MENTAL PRAYER 

His indescribable Beauty in the midst of a 
very exalted Contemplation. At the sight 
of this Beauty, all created things lose their 
attraction for the soul, whose one desire is 
to be united to God, its sovereign Good. But 
its sins rise up between it and God like a wall 
which it cannot scale. A mysterious mixed 
feeling of joy and suffering is the result, for 
if, on the one hand, the sight of the sovereign 
Good thrills the soul with joy; on the other, 
its separation from It causes it immense 
suffering. 

St. Teresa describes this mysterious mar- 
tyrdom in these words: " The soul suddenly 
feels within it an indescribable longing for 
God. Filled through and through with this 
desire, it immediately passes through such a 
delirium of suffering that it is raised quite 
out of itself and above all created things. God 
places it in such a vast desert that it could 
not, even by making the greatest efforts, find 
a single being upon earth to be its companion. 
Besides, even if it could, it would not, for its 
only aspiration is to die in this solitude. It 
would be useless to speak of it, or for it to 
force itself to answer; nothing can raise its 
spirit from this solitude. Although God then 



THE VARIOUS TRIALS 141 

seems to me far removed from the soul, yet 
He often discloses His sovereign Greatness in 
such an extraordinary way that it surpasses 
airconception. Besides, words fail to express 
it and one must, in my opinion, have experi- 
enced it to be able to conceive and believe it. 
The end of such elevated communication is 
not to console the soul, but to show it how 
justly it is distressed at seeing itself separated 
from the Good which includes within Itself 
all other good. Having perceived this, the 
soul feels both the thirst for God and the 
severity of its solitude, increased. It is a prey 
to such refined and piercing suffering, it feels 
itself in such a pitiless desert, that it can say 
literally with David: ' I have watched and 
am become as a sparrow all alone on the 
housetop.' x 

" In this condition the soul does not seem 
to be any longer in itself, but, like the sparrow 
on the housetop, it dwells alone in the highest 
part of itself, looking down upon all creatures 
from this height; I will go further and say 
that it is above the highest part of itself that 
it has its dwelling. . . . From time to time I 
remembered what St. Paul said, that he was 

1 Ps. ioi : 8. 



142 PRACTICE OF MENTAL PRAYER 

crucified to the world. . . . Something of this 
nature then takes place within the soul: no 
consolation comes to it either from Heaven, 
which is not yet its dwelling place, or from 
earth, for which it has no affection and from 
which it does not wish to receive any. It is 
truly crucified, as it were, between Heaven 
and earth, a prey to suffering without receiv- 
ing any comfort either from one or the other. 
From Heaven, it is true, there comes that 
wonderful knowledge of God of which I have 
spoken and which far surpasses all our desires, 
but such a sight of God increases rather than 
lessens its torment, because it still more in- 
flames its desire of possessing Him. At times 
the intensity of the suffering is such that it 
causes the soul to lose all consciousness. True, 
this last effect is of short duration, being, as 
it were, the last death agony. But there is 
such happiness in this agony of suffering that 
I do not know with what to compare it. It 
is an unspeakable martyrdom of combined 
suffering and delight. Very far from wishing 
to find the slightest relief from the pleasant 
things the earth formerly offered it, the soul 
cannot endure the sight of them and casts 
them far from it with supreme disgust. It 



THE VARIOUS TRIALS 143 

knows well that it only wants its God, but it 
loves nothing particular in Him; rather it 
loves in Him all that is He, and it does not 
know at all what it loves. . . . The powers are 
here suspended as the result of pain, as they 
are by pleasure in Union and Ecstasy. . . . 

" As almost every new T favor that I receive 
causes me fear, until Our Lord reassures me, 
that of which I am speaking also caused me 
a certain alarm in the beginning. But the 
Divine Master told me not to be frightened, 
but to esteem this grace more highly than all 
the others which He had granted me. The 
soul was cleansed by this suffering, worked 
and purified as gold in the crucible, so that 
God's hand might the better spread upon it 
the enamel of His gifts; in a word, the soul 
here endured the suffering which would have 
been its lot in Purgatory." l 

The earthly purgatory takes another form, 
too, God casting a glance of love upon the soul 
which attracts it with a force that no tongue 
can describe; but the soul is too weak to fly 
to the bosom of its God. Here again is a 
mysterious blending of joy and suffering; for 
if on one side God's glance is full of unspeak- 

1 Vie par elle-mdme, ch. 20, pp. 218, 219, 220, 223. 



144 PRACTICE OF MENTAL PRAYER 

able sweetness, on the other the soul's weak- 
ness prevents it from corresponding. This 
causes terrible suffering. I will hazard a com- 
parison. Look at a child in its cradle, whom 
the devoted mother attracts towards her by 
her tender glance. All the movements of 
this little angel express its joy, but after 
many vain [attempts, finding that its swad- 
dling clothes prevent it from throwing itself 
into its mother's arms, it starts crying. The 
mother's smile causes the infant joy, but the 
weakness which prevents it from responding, 
suffering. 

Let us hear what St. Catherine of Genoa 
says. She first describes the suffering of a 
holy soul in Purgatory: " God casts on it the 
rays of His love, which inflame it, attracting 
it towards Him with a force sufficient to anni- 
hilate it, all immortal though it be. . . . When 
the soul by an interior glance sees itself thus 
attracted by God with such a burning love, 
then in the warmth of this love enkindled by 
its all gracious Lord and God, it melts entirely 
away. ... It feels itself wholly consumed by 
the desire of returning God love for love and 
of throwing itself into His embrace. But, 
checked by the impediment of its sins, it can- 



THE VARIOUS TRIALS 145 

not follow this attraction which God exercises 
upon it, in other words it cannot reply to that 
unitive glance which God casts upon it in 
order to draw it to Him. ... It feels given 
over to a suffering which no words can express 
and it is this suffering, springing in its case 
from everything it sees, which forms, properly 
speaking, the pain of Purgatory/' * 

The Saint then comes to the description of 
her own earthly purgatory: " What I have 
said about this takes place spiritually within 
me. . . . The prison where I seem to be is 
the world; my bonds are the fetters of my 
body. Enlightened by grace, my soul under- 
stands what it is to be kept a prisoner from 
God and to find in itself the obstacle which 
prevents its supreme happiness, and with- 
holds it from gaining its end. As the soul is 
delicate and sensitive in the extreme, this 
delay is the cause of indescribable pain to it." 2 

It remains for us to examine what the soul 
must do in order to correspond with the incom- 
parable grace of this supernatural trial which 
always lasts some time. It is being purified 
in the earthly purgatory; it ought, then, to 

1 TraitS du Purgatoire, Bouix, 1883, p. 233. 

2 Ibid., Ch. 17, p. 241. 



146 PRACTICE OF MENTAL PRAYER 

take the souls retained in the Purgatory of the 
next life, as models. These holy souls recog- 
nize that they are justly punished. Let the 
soul tested on earth also recognize the justice 
of its trial and follow their example by saying: 
" Thou art just, O Lord: and Thy judgment 
is right/ ' * or again: " And we indeed justly, 
for we receive the due reward of our deeds.' ' 2 
The holy souls in Purgatory live in a state 
of perfect forgetfulness of creatures, having 
but one desire, to reach perfect union with 
God in Heaven. Following their example, 
the soul which is made to undergo the test of 
purification in this world, ought not to turn 
to created things in order to find alleviation 
for its suffering, but direct all its desires 
towards God, saying with the Prophet: " One 
thing I have asked of the Lord: that I may 
dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of 
my life." 3 And since there are two kinds of 
union, that of interest, which is born of hope, 
and that of disinterestedness, arising from 
pure charity, let the soul, of course, aspire to 
to that which will place it in possession of the 
sovereign Good, but much more, to that which 

1 Ps. 118: 137. 2 Luke 23: 41. 

3 Ps. 26; 4. 



THE VARIOUS TRIALS 147 

will make it live no longer for itself but for 
God. 

Lastly and beyond all else, the holy souls in 
Purgatory live in perfect conformity with the 
Divine Will, which cleanses them in their 
terrible sufferings. Such a high opinion have 
they of the infinite perfection of this Divine 
Will that the slightest impulse in opposition 
to it has become absolutely impossible to 
them. Let the soul who is tried on earth 
follow their example and submit in all things 
to God's Will, whether it be as to the intensity 
or the duration of the suffering. This Divine 
Will, indeed, always remains infinitely just, 
holy and worthy of being loved, even though 
it tests in such a fearful way. 



148 PRACTICE OF MENTAL PRAYER 



CHAPTER VI 

A FEW WORDS ON THE " SOUL'S DARK NIGHT," 
BY ST. JOHN OF THE CROSS 

All souls must pass through an earthly- 
purgatory before arriving at the great grace 
of perfect Contemplation, but all are not puri- 
fied in the same way. St. Catherine of 
Genoa's purification was not like that of St. 
Teresa's in all respects, and the purgatory of 
these two saints differs from that through 
which St. John of the Cross passed. He 
depicts his in a well-known work entitled: 
11 The Soul's Dark Night." It may be useful 
to say something about it on account of the 
great light found there for the direction of 
souls. 

When a ray of sunshine strikes the diseased 
eye, it burns and blinds it. Yet the light and 
warmth of this ray are good and soothing in 
themselves, but the eye has not enough 
strength to receive them as such. Once the 
eye is healed, this same ray which dazzled and 
burnt it, gives a gentle light and warmth. 

So it is with the ray of Divine Wisdom, 
which God never sends without adding to 



THE VARIOUS TRIALS 149 

it the fire of His love, as we have seen. 1 
When the Great Doctor wishes to cure an 
ailing soul by means of interior suffering en- 
dured with resignation, He sheds His Wisdom 
and His love upon it in too intense a degree 
for the soul to be able to receive them without 
suffering. Blinded by a too vivid light, burnt 
by a too scorching flame, the soul experiences 
great pain. Then after long years have 
passed, when the soul is cured of its infirm- 
ities, that same wisdom which blinded it, 
gently illuminates it, and that love which 
burned it up makes it taste unspeakable 
sweetness. Thus it is neither the wisdom nor 
the love which change, but it is the soul which 
is wonderfully changed by them. It passes 
from darkness to light, from the torment of 
the flames to the joys of sweet love. 

In order to explain this mysterious puri- 
fication due to the wisdom and love which the 
Holy Ghost sheds upon the soul, take another 
comparison more spiritual and therefore truer. 
An intelligent but backward pupil attends the 
lessons of a talented master. The intellectual 
light which flashes from the master's mind at 
first tires his pupil, who, not understanding, 

r Part i, ch. 5. 



150 PRACTICE OF MENTAL PRAYER 

finds the time long and is humiliated by having 
his ignorance shown him. The result of this 
is discouragement and sometimes despair of 
ever succeeding in understanding such a 
master. But if the pupil perseveres, in the 
end all is changed. The pupil's mind, when 
trained, readily grasps the bent of his master's 
talent, and the same intellectual light which 
at first bored and discouraged him is now the 
cause of joy and hope. 

Such is the case of a soul adorned with con- 
spicuous gifts of grace but yet sunk in the 
darkness of its faults and imperfections: God 
sends it too bright a ray of His wisdom and too 
strong a flame of His love for its weakness. 
Uneasiness, fatigue, confusion, discourage- 
ment and suffering attack and overwhelm it, 
and at such a time the powerlessness of ever 
finding rest in the knowledge and love of God 
is often the cause of profound despair. But 
if the soul humbly and generously perseveres 
for years, if it bears this terrible interior 
suffering with resignation, it is cleansed and 
healed and strengthened; and then, this same 
Divine wisdom which used to blind it, this 
love which used to burn it up, is the cause of 
unspeakable delight. 



THE VARIOUS TRIALS 151 

The soul is divided into two parts, as it were: 
one higher and spiritual ; the other lower and 
sensible. Both have committed faults and 
imperfections, both need to be healed and 
strengthened. According to St. John of the 
Cross, the Divine wisdom and love first occupy 
themselves with the purification, cure and 
fortification of the sensible part. This first 
cleansing effected, there still remains another 
and much more difficult one to bring about, 
that of healing the spiritual part of the soul 
in such a way that it may no longer have any 
self-love or self-complacency. In order to 
attain this finished perfection, God increases 
to a frightful extent the light of His wisdom 
which blinds, and the fire of His love which 
burns. All the imperfection that remains 
even in the very depths of the soul is then 
consumed. This holocaust, however, is only 
effected at the cost of a suffering which sur- 
passes all conception and puts one in mind 
of Hell. 

If the soul endures this terrible trial with 
humility, patience and perseverance, at the 
end of the number of years settled by the 
Divine Decree, it assuredly finds itself trans- 
formed in God and overwhelmed with all 



152 PRACTICE OF MENTAL PRAYER 

good. The purification of the senses is the 
gateway leading to imperfect Contemplation; 
the purification of the spirit, that leading 
to perfect Contemplation. • 

Listen to what St. John of the Cross says 
in describing the wonderful passing of a soul 
from darkness of spirit to the unspeakable 
delights of perfect Contemplation: " The 
struggle in this warfare is terrible, for the 
peace which is to follow and which is so 
ardently longed for, is immense; and even if 
the suffering is deep, piercing, extreme, the love 
to which it leads is very deep and pure. The 
more sublime and finished the work, the longer 
and more painful must have been the labor; 
the great size of a building calls for pro- 
portionately solid foundations. . . . The soul, 
while passing through the night of purification, 
approaches the state of perfection where un- 
speakable good awaits it and where its powers 
will see themselves enriched with innumerable 
gifts and virtues.' ' x 

It remains to mention why St. John of the 
Cross calls the ray of wisdom which purifies 
the lower part of the soul the " dark night of 
sense/ ' and the more powerful ray which 

1 Nuit obscure, i : 2, ch. 9; t. 3, pp. 381, 382. 



THE VARIOUS TRIALS 153 

purifies its higher part, " the dark night of the 
spirit." As we have just seen, it is the 
property of these two luminous rays of Divine 
wisdom to blind the soul and cast it into dark- 
ness. It is natural, then, to give their action, 
that of producing darkness, the name of " dark 
night." 



PART III 

©be Virtues and BeuotioroS at tofncf) a &oul 
must £at)or if it OTiSfjes to Jflafce Serious 
$rogregg in Contemplation 



CHAPTER I 

IN GENERAL, THE SOUL WHICH IS CALLED TO 
CONTEMPLATION MUST GIVE ITSELF TO THE 
STUDY AND PRACTICE OF SOLID VIRTUES 

Contemplation is a look of mutual love 
between God and the soul. Since it is by the 
brightness and fragrance of its virtues that a 
soul is pleasing to God, the soul called to 
Contemplation must give itself to the practice 
of solid virtues, of which the most pleasing 
to its Heavenly Spouse are humility, obedi- 
ence, brotherly love and care to accomplish 
God's good pleasure in all things. 

Let us begin with humility. The charac- 
teristic of this virtue is that it attracts God's 
love, as we see from the numerous examples 
in Holy Writ, in particular from that of Our 
Lady, who sings these words in the Magnificat : 
" He hath regarded the humility of His hand- 
maid." 1 

Contemplation, it is true, never exists unless 
accompanied by a holy wonder, from which 

1 Luke i : 48. 

157 



158 PRACTICE OF MENTAL PRAYER 

springs humility: how can the Creator stoop 
down so lovingly to a creature filled with so 
much misery and sin! But let no one be 
deceived, for this humility, shed upon the 
contemplative soul by the Holy Ghost, is only 
a gentle and beneficial rain from the clouds. 
Now, if the rain is not to evaporate and be 
useless, it is not enough that it should be 
abundant, but the gardener must also labor 
to make it penetrate the ground. 

The contemplative soul, then, must labor 
apart from prayer, where it is passive, to 
acquire humility. Humility towards God, 
humility towards men — these two divisions 
of humility cannot be separated. 

So, then, you souls called to the great grace 
of Contemplation, if you wish to profit of it 
fully, love to be forgotten and accounted as 
nothing. Speak little of yourselves and hide 
the exceptional gifts of God. . Be content to 
let ordinary virtues shine exteriorly, as Our 
Divine Master expressed it, " So let your 
light shine before men that they may see your 
good works and glorify your Father Who is 
in Heaven.' ' x As for exceptional graces, keep 
them quite hidden. Imitate Our Lady, who 

iMatth. 5: 16. 



THE VIRTUES AND DEVOTIONS 159 

presented herself in the Temple to be purified 
and so hid from men's eyes the treasure of her 
miraculous virginity. This concealed virtue 
draws down God's love in a wonderful 
way. 

In the second place, do not obstinately 
defend your opinions nor excuse yourself in 
trifles, even when the accusation is not per- 
fectly accurate. This is the surest way of 
having that loving look directed upon you 
which the Father cast upon His Son when He 
was silent before Herod and Pilate and made 
no answer to the outrageous insults and 
calumny. 

Lastly, if you wish to be the object of God's 
love by reason of your humility, force yourself 
to regard yourself always and in everything, 
as the last of all. 

The Pharisee who thought himself better 
than the rest of mankind and said to himself : 
" I am not as the rest of men, extortioners, 
unjust, adulterers, as also is this publican," l 
only made himself the object of God's hatred 
and disgust; while the publican, who stood 
afar off and thought himself unworthy of a 
place amidst the Jews assembled in the 

*Luke 18: n. 



160 PRACTICE OF MENTAL PRAYER 

Temple, drew down a look of pitying kindness 
which justified him, 1 

Unquestionably, Contemplation always dif- 
fuses an all Divine attraction in the soul which 
impels it to take the last place, but this attrac- 
tion must be cooperated with by considering 
in all simplicity the good qualities of one's 
brethren and closing one's eyes to their defects. 
This practice was dear to all the saints who 
were raised to the highest Contemplation. 

He who wishes to enjoy favors from God 
must join obedience to humility. 

O you contemplative souls, if you would 
win more and more the look of love from God, 
be prompt, joyful and simple in your obedi- 
ence in all things. See your Divine Master, 
Our Lord Jesus Christ: out of obedience 
He causes Himself to be baptized in the Jordan 
and a voice is heard from Heaven, saying, 
" This is My beloved Son in Whom I am well 
pleased." 2 He holds converse on Mount 
Thabor with Moses and Elias of all that He 
must suffer in Jerusalem, being obedient even 
unto the death of the Cross, and this same 
heavenly voice is heard again, repeating God's 
satisfaction. 

1 Lukt 18; 14, * Matth. 3: 17- 



THE VIRTUES AND DEVOTIONS 161 

Obey not only your Superior's voice, but 
also that of the rule, the certain expression of 
God's will. Avoid exceptions and singular- 
ities, the strange illusion into which the devil 
has made so many contemplative souls fall. 
Think of Jesus submitting to the full observ- 
ance of the law in His Circumcision, from 
which His Divine Conception exempted Him. 
See Mary complying with the law of puri- 
fication. Being a Virgin, she was exempt. 
Then lifting your eyes to Heaven, contemplate 
the incomparable look of satisfaction which 
God casts upon the Divine Child and His 
Mother, and you will understand that the 
way which is especially pleasing to God's 
Majesty is not the way of exception, even that 
to which one has a claim, but of the common 
life. It is not, however, my intention to con- 
demn necessary exceptions, since they form 
a part of community life, but to prevent an 
illusion which consists in thinking that neces- 
sary, which really is not so. 

Again, God's love is won by brotherly love. 
We can only please God by our likeness to 
Jesus Christ, Our Lord, our elder Brother. 
Now this likeness is born of charity, for the 
Divine Master has said: " By this shall all 



162 PRACTICE OF MENTAL PRAYER 

men know that you are My disciples, if you 
have love one for another." l 

So, then, you souls called to Contemplation, 
make every effort to assist your brethren, 
whether it be by leaving them the best or 
by taking upon yourself work and allowing 
them to rest, or whether it be by lavishing 
your care upon them in all their needs. Then 
will God recognize in you the image of His 
Son Jesus, Who provided bread for the hungry 
in the desert, and washed the feet of His 
beloved Disciples at the Last Supper, and 
this likeness to Jesus will draw down that look 
of love which brings about rapid advance- 
ment in supernatural paths. Do not stop 
until you have succeeded in not harboring 
the slightest shadow of resentment against 
those who injure you. On the contrary, love 
them with a special love and, touched by 
all their troubles, show yourself ready to 
suffer everything in order to comfort them 
in their suffering. Then will God see in 
you the likeness to His Son Jesus, Who 
allowed Himself to be kissed by Judas 
and prayed for His executioners; then will 
He be pleased with you and make you 

1 John 13: 35. 



THE VIRTUES AND DEVOTIONS 163 

taste of heavenly delights ever more and 
more. 

In a word, in order to reach the highest 
point of Contemplation, it is absolutely essen- 
tial to aim at " doing in all things that which 
is most pleasing to God." 

Contemplation is essentially a union of love 
in which the soul gives itself to God, and God 
to the soul. The more perfect this reciprocal 
gift, the more elevated the Contemplation. 
Now, to give oneself to God is to do His Holy 
Will. The soul finds itself, in the act of Con- 
templation, wonderfully assisted by the pure 
love which the Holy Ghost sheds upon it, 
but this pure love is not enough. The seed 
scattered upon the earth does not germinate 
unless the husbandman's hand makes it pene- 
trate the soil. Having felt the need in a pas- 
sive manner during prayer of pleasing God, 
the soul must absolutely become active and 
force itself to fulfil all the heavenly demands 
in the details of its daily occupations. 

Let there be no mistake here. The great 
secret for making rapid progress in Contem- 
plation is to wound God's heart, who then 
puts no limits to the wealth of His love and 
gifts. Now, the arrow which wounds it is the 



164 PRACTICE OF MENTAL PRAYER 

burning desire to please Him in all things. 
When a soul which is called to Contemplation 
reaches that happy state where, being truly 
stripped of self and purified from all exterior 
affection, its life is to the full God's possession 
and at the entire mercy of His Divine Will, 
the greatest favors succeed one another in an 
extraordinary way. 

Such is the way which leads the chosen 
souls to the summit of Contemplation. It 
could not be otherwise, since it is this way 
which Our Lord pointed out when He said: 
" And He that sent Me is with Me and He 
hath not left Me alone: for I do always the 
things that please Him. M l 

Such is the way which, following the Divine 
Master's example, men like St. Bernard, St. 
Dominic, St. Francis, St. Ignatius, St. Francis 
Xavier have followed and which has guided 
them to the great ecstasies of Contemplation, 
where the soul is not only lost in God, but 
also inflamed with such burning love, that of 
its very fulness there leaps up flames of zeal 
which convert the world. 

11 Above all," writes St. Teresa, " who 
could say what numbers of souls the devil has 

1 John 8:29. 



THE VIRTUES AND DEVOTIONS 165 

been robbed of by a St. Dominic, a St. Francis, 
and other founders of religious Orders, and is 
now being robbed of by Father Ignatius, 
founder of the Society of Jesus! But what 
is the secret of the power exercised by all these 
apostolic souls? It is that, having received, 
as their lives testify, this grace of holding 
converse with the Spouse, they have made 
noble efforts not to lose, through their own 
fault, the still more lofty grace of so Divine 
a union.' ' l 

These efforts of which the Saint speaks are 
the heroic care of seeking only God's glory 
and pleasure in all things. 

It must be noticed that the solid virtues 
of which we have just spoken can only be 
acquired and preserved by means of a serious 
examen. Following the example, then, of the 
Saints who have attained the highest favors 
from God, souls raised to Contemplation must 
never cease to make examen. The Holy 
Ghost in Contemplation doubtless gives great 
light to see one's faults, but this passive 
state, of reception of the light, is not enough; 
to it must be added the active search of a 
serious examen. 

1 Chdteau interieur, 4* denxeure, ch. 4, t. 3, p. 413. 



166 PRACTICE OF MENTAL PRAYER 

St. Ignatius made reflection every hour, and 
leaving all other occupation, examined his con- 
science with the greatest care. If anything 
important prevented him from doing so for a 
moment, he did so immediately it was fin- 
ished. 1 He went even further, for he com- 
pared one examen with the other, and one 
week with another. 2 

In spite of his numerous ecstasies and the 
extraordinary light God gave him about his 
slight faults, St. Francis Xavier used to 
examine his conscience several times a day. 

St. Teresa left the following advice to her 
religious: " Every hour and at each of your 
actions examine your conscience. Then hav- 
ing seen your faults, try to correct yourself of 
them with God's help, and you will attain 
perfection/ ' 3 

1 Bollandists, t. 34, p. 562, n. 475. 

2 Ibid., p. 594, n. 911. 

' Avis d ses religieuses, 27* avis, t. 2, p. 582. 



THE VIRTUES AND DEVOTIONS 167 

CHAPTER II 

THE SOUL CALLED TO CONTEMPLATION MUST 
KEEP ITSELF ENTIRELY FREE FROM ATTACH- 
MENT TO CREATURES 

The Imitation asks: 

11 Why were certain of the Saints so perfect: 

" So contemplative ? 
Because they strove to wholly mortify 
themselves, 

"To all the longings of the world; 

11 And thus with all the marrow of their 
heart they could cleave to God. 

11 We are too busy with our passions: 

" We are too careful of the things that 
pass. 

" If we were wholly dead unto ourselves, 

" And no wise entangled in our inner 
hearts: 

" We then could relish even things Divine. 

11 And have some experience of heavenly 
Contemplation."* l 

And in another chapter, where he returns 
to the same subject, the author writes^ 

" He wished to freely fly, 

1 Imitation, Bk. i, ch. II, 



168 PRACTICE OF MENTAL PRAYER 

"Who said: 

" Who will give me wings like a dove, 

" And I will fly and be at rest? * 

" What more quiet than the single eye? 

" And what more free, 

1 ' Than he who longs for nothing on earth? 

" So must I pass all creation by, and wholly 
desert self, 

" And stand in ecstasy of mind and see, 

" That Thou, Creator of all, hast in Thee 
nothing like Thy creatures. 

" And if one be not set loose from all cre- 
ation, 

u He cannot freely aim at things Divine. 

" For therefore few souls are found contem- 
plative, 

11 For there are few that know how 

" Fully to seclude themselves from creatures 
and beings that will perish.' ' 2 

An incontestable doctrine, for Contempla- 
tion is a special union of love with God. Now, 
God never unites Himself so intimately to a 
soul as when, being dead to the world, it gives 
itself entirely to Him. When a soul which 
knows God only by faith, without feeling the 
delight of His presence, easily turns towards 

1 Ps. 54: 7. 2 Imitation, Bk. 4, ch. 31. 



THE VIRTUES AND DEVOTIONS 169 

creatures, whose charm it experiences, it is 
foolish, truly, but it is a folly which the weak- 
ness of human nature, always turning towards 
a tangible good, in a certain sense explains. 
But when a soul which has experienced in 
Contemplation the heavenly pleasure of God's 
presence, still stoops to creatures to find in 
them an earthly delight, it is such unseemly 
behavior that God punishes it by depriving 
it of this high favor. 

So then, O contemplative souls, shun all 
attachment to creatures. 

In the first place, cling to solitude and do 
not spread yourselves outside, either by seek- 
ing distraction in worldly news or by busying 
yourselves with what has not been entrusted 
to you. The essential character of Contem- 
plation is heavenly peace. Now, how can one 
enjoy the peace of Heaven when one's atten- 
tion is necessarily taken up with a thousand 
earthly matters? 

Do I mean, then, that one must flee from 
the world and not think of it even when God's 
glory and one's neighbor's salvation so re- 
quire? Not at all. But then one should only 
turn one's attention to it as far as is necessary. 
The attraction exercised by solitude must 



170 PRACTICE OF MENTAL PRAYER 

always remain a weight, drawing the soul and 
leading it back to God. Such was the con- 
duct of Saints like St. Bernard, St. Dominic, 
St. Francis, St. Ignatius, St. Francis Xavier 
and all the Saints in general. 

You have a corruptible body, which weighs 
down the soul and prevents it from flying 
freely to God's bosom by means of Contem- 
plation. Avoid what gives this body pleasure, 
what flatters its sight, hearing, taste and the 
other senses, or at least only seek in them a 
rest which is necessary for glorifying God. 
One must go still further: the Apostle could 
raise himself to the third Heaven only by 
bringing his body into subjection. This ex- 
ample must be followed and the practice of 
corporal mortification must be constant, 
though not excessive. If the body is en- 
feebled, the soul has no strength to raise 
itself to God in prayer. 

Let us go further ahead. Every one of us 
is more or less anxious to be held in esteem by 
others. You absolutely must practise morti- 
fication in this respect, by offering God the 
entire sacrifice of your reputation. This holo- 
caust demands from you the avoidance of all 
compliments and praise, according to Our 



THE VIRTUES AND DEVOTIONS 171 

Lord's example. If, however, you cannot 
avoid them, take them, as Our Divine Master 
did, in referring all the honor to God. 

And further still. Watch over the affec- 
tions of your heart. Contemplation is a sub- 
lime exchange of love between God and His 
Spouse, the soul. Now it is the Bridegroom's 
privilege to be jealous of the undivided affec- 
tion and love of His Bride. 

When a soul which has been favored by 
supernatural favors stoops to natural affec- 
tions without purifying them in the fire of the 
love of God, the heavenly Spouse is angered, 
the source of His graces dries up, and all 
progress in Contemplation immediately ceases. 

In a word, the contemplative soul must 
avoid any self-complacency; this return of 
pride caused Lucifer's ruin. Does this mean 
that a contemplative soul is never to return 
upon itself? Not at all. It ought often to 
consider God's gifts, so as to thank and glorify 
Him for them. But it is one thing to reflect 
on oneself with the object of admiring oneself, 
and quite another thing when the object is to 
delight in God, and to sing, after the example 
of the most Holy Virgin: " My soul doth 
magnify the Lord! " 



172 PRACTICE OF MENTAL PRAYER 



CHAPTER III 

THE SOUL CALLED TO CONTEMPLATION AND 
WHICH WISHES TO MAKE REAL PROGRESS 
IN IT, MUST STRIVE AFTER INTIMATE UNION 
WITH JESUS CHRIST CRUCIFIED 

" When Jesus was transfigured on Thabor," 
says the Holy Gospel, " His face did shine as 
the sun; and His garments became white as 
snow. 1 And behold two men were talking 
with Him. And they were Moses and Elias, 
appearing in majesty. And they spoke of 
His decease that He should accomplish in 
Jerusalem." 2 

Why did Our Lord thus unite His glorious 
Transfiguration, a reflex of Heaven, and His 
ignominious death on the Cross? To teach us 
that Calvary is the road to eternal happiness. 
It is Calvary, too, which must be climbed in 
order to reach Contemplation, the true prelude 
to the life of Heaven. The soul will never be 
successful in this, unless it has a quite special 
devotion to Our Lord's Passion. 

"If you wish, to arrive at contemplative 

1 Matth. 17: 2. 2 Luke 9: 30, 31. 



THE VIRTUES AND DEVOTIONS 173 

rest," says St. Bonaventure, " bring yourself 
as far as you can to compassionate the Passion 
of Jesus Christ and to carry Him everywhere 
in your heart. If, indeed, you cannot com- 
passionate His suffering, you cannot rejoice 
with Him. If you meditate well upon His 
Passion and enter deep into the opening in 
His side, you will quickly arrive at His Heart. 

happy heart which thus sweetly unites itself 
to the Heart of Jesus Christ ! . . . O excellent 
heart, tell me, I beg, of the sweetness which 
you experience; hide not from me the delight 
with which you are overwhelmed. But, as 

1 clearly see, you no longer hear what I say, 
for your heart is absorbed in an indescribable 
sweetness. . . . You are captivated by the 
excess of your happiness, you have no power 
of speech and your senses can no longer act. 
Whoever wishes to enter into the repose and 
sweetness of Contemplation by another door, 
must hold himself a thief and a robber.' ' l 

Let the facts speak for themselves. Among 
the Saints the greatest contemplative souls 
have all had a special devotion to Jesus cruci- 
fied. Among Our Lord's Apostles, two re- 
ceived the gift of a more sublime Contempla- 

* Stimulus amoris, pars 3, c. 1; t. 12, p. 677. 



174 PRACTICE OF MENTAL PRAYER 

tion than the others, St. Paul and St. John. 
By what door did they enter? St. Paul was 
raised to the third Heaven. How did he 
attain this? " For I judged not myself to 
know any thing among you, but Jesus Christ ; 
and Him crucified/ ' x There is his answer. 

11 The Apostle St. John," St. Augustine tells 
us, " is rightly compared to the eagle, for the 
three other Evangelists walk on the earth with 
the Humanity of Our Lord, and have said little 
of His Divinity. But John, as if it cost him 
an effort to walk on the earth, from the very 
beginning of his discourse rises above the earth 
and all the expanse of air and heaven, nay, 
higher still, above the whole army of Angels 
and the whole assembly of the invisible powers 
and reaches Him, by Whom all things were 
made, saying: In the beginning was the 
Word, and the Word was with God, and the 
Word was God." 2 That truly is the highest 
Contemplation. Now of all the Apostles, John 
is the only one who, at the foot of the Cross, 
was united to Jesus crucified by a holy and 
tender compassion. 

Close to John on Calvary was Mary Mag- 
dalen, regarded by all the Saints as the perfect 

1 1 Cor. 2: 2. 2 Tract. 36 in Joan. 



THE VIRTUES AND DEVOTIONS 175 

model of a contemplative soul and the Church 
herself recognizes it in the legend of St. 
Martha: 

11 In order to enjoy by contemplating the 
heavenly beatitude, the better part she "had 
chosen, Magdalen withdrew to a cave in a very 
high mountain. There she lived thirty years, 
raised daily to Heaven to hear the Angels' 
choirs." x 

Now how did Mary Magdalen receive this 
signal grace? By incomparable union of love 
with Jesus crucified. Not only did she mount 
Calvary so as to compassionate the sufferings 
of her Divine Master, but more, after the holy 
women had departed from the empty tomb, 
she remained to weep at the remembrance of 
the sufferings of His Passion. Jesus, touched 
by her tears, came to console her by showing 
her the glory of His Resurrection. 

Let us pass to the Saints who have rendered 
the Church especially illustrious by the sub- 
limity of their prayer. St. Bernard was the 
greatest contemplative of the twelfth century. 
What gained him admittance into the rest 
and sweetness of Contemplation? He tells us 
in his forty-third sermon on the Canticle: " I 

1 Breviary, Lesson 5. 



176 PRACTICE OF MENTAL PRAYER 

too, my bi-ethren, from the beginning of my 
conversion have been careful to gather this 
little bouquet of myrrh to take the place of 
all the merits which I am sensible of having 
missed, and to place it on my heart. I have 
formed it of all my Saviour's pains and bit- 
ter griefs. First, of the privations which 
He suffered during His infancy; afterwards 
of the labor of His preaching, the weariness 
of His journeys, the nights spent in prayer, 
His temptations and sufferings, His tears shed 
in compassion, the snares laid for Him in con- 
versation, dangers created by false brethren, 
outrages, spittings, buffets, mockings, re- 
proaches, nails and like things, which He 
suffered for man's salvation, as the Gospel 
relates in numerous passages. . . . This is 
why that which I have often on my lips, as 
you know; that which I have always in my 
heart, as God knows; always in my writings, 
as one sees; that which is my sublimest 
philosophy, is to know Jesus and Jesus cruci- 
fied." * 

The great ecstatic of the thirteenth cen- 
tury was St. Francis of Assisi. By what door 
did he enter into the union of incomparable 

1 Sermo 43 in Cantica, circa med. et in fine^ 



THE VIRTUES AND DEVOTIONS 177 

love which marked the two last years of his 
life? After a fast of forty days on Mount 
Al vermis, Francis saw descend from Heaven 
a winged and crucified Seraph, whose appear- 
ance, full of grace, produced an excess of joy 
within him, and whose crucifixion pierced his 
soul with the sword of suffering. The vision 
taught this friend of Christ that he must be 
wholly transformed into the image of Jesus 
crucified, not by the martyrdom of the flesh 
but by the consuming fire of the soul. 1 The 
impression of St. Francis' stigmata sums up 
his whole life. It teaches us how the love of 
Jesus crucified was the source of all good to 
him, and especially during the two heavenly 
years which preceded his blessed death. 

A century later, St. Catherine of Sienna 
appeared. From six years of age, she was 
transported in ecstasy, but the sublime prayer 
which is the cause of her being looked upon as 
the great contemplative of the fourteenth 
century, dates from the ecstasy of Pisa, where 
for a whole day she was thought to be dead* 
She was then twenty-seven years old. How 
did she enter upon this new and lofty road, 
about which, like St. Paul, she declared herself 

1 See St, Bonaventure's account in the Breviary, 17 September. 



178 PRACTICE OF MENTAL PRAYER 

unable to speak? While she was still at Pisa, 
after being nourished with the Heavenly Food, 
she saw Our Crucified Lord coming towards 
her surrounded by a great light. Five rays 
shone from her Saviour's Wounds and fell 
upon her hands, her feet and her heart, and 
the pain which she experienced in consequence 
was so great that she would have died of it, if 
God had not supported her. 1 The door of 
the Contemplation to which she was raised 
during the last six years of her life was, then, 
the impression of the stigmata of Jesus cruci- 
fied. 

Let us conclude with St. Teresa. When 
she had begun to receive the graces of Con- 
templation, doubts arose in her mind, as 
usually happens, and she asked St. Francis 
Borgia's advice. His reply to her was, that 
for the future she ought f always to begin prayer 
by a mystery of the Passion and that if after- 
wards Our Lord, without any effort on her 
part, raised her spirit to the supernatural 
state, she ought to yield herself to His guid- 
ance without fear. 2 Our Saviour's most holy 
Passion, then, was for Teresa the blessed 

1 Bollandists, t. 12, pp. 870, 908, 910, 911. 

2 Vie par elle-meme, ch. 24, p. 278. 



THE VIRTUES AND DEVOTIONS 179 

door by which she entered upon the path of 
Contemplation in a lasting manner. 

In Holy Church, Jesus Christ's true Spouse, 
there will always be some privileged souls to 
whom the Holy Ghost grants contemplative 
graces. But let no mistake be made here. 
Except in exceptional cases, which come under 
no law, no one enters upon imperfect Con- 
templation without having generously an- 
swered Our Divine Master's call: " If any 
man will come after Me, let him deny himself, 
and take up his cross and follow Me." x No 
one passes from imperfect to perfect Contem- 
plation without having shared in the agony 
of Jesus on the Cross. Lastly, no one rises 
from perfect Contemplation to Consummated 
Union without bearing the sacred stigmata 
of Our Lord Jesus Christ imprinted upon his 
soul and sometimes upon his body. Special 
devotion to the Holy Passion of Jesus Christ 
is a signal grace obtained through the most 
Holy Virgin's blessed intercession, whose 
sweet soul was pierced by the sword of sorrows 
on Calvary. Let contemplative souls, then, 
who desire to respond fully to their holy voca- 
tion, bring themselves to have always on their 

1 Matth. 16: 24. 



180 PRACTICE OF MENTAL PRAYER 

heart and frequently on their lips this all 
pious strophe of the Stabat Mater: 

Sancta Mater, istud agas, 
Crucifixi fige plagas, 
Cordi meo valide ! 



THE VIRTUES AND DEVOTIONS 181 



CHAPTER IV 

THE SOUL CALLED TO CONTEMPLATION AND 
WHICH WISHES TO MAKE REAL PROGRESS 
IN IT, MUST HAVE A SPECIAL DEVOTION TO 
THE HOLY EUCHARIST 

'I am the living bread, which came down 
from heaven/ ' says Our Lord: "if any man 
eat of this bread, he shall live forever. . . . 
He that eateth My flesh, and drinketh My 
blood, hath everlasting life." l 

The Divine Master teaches us by these 
words that the Holy Eucharist is the Divine 
bread which nourishes the soul and gives it 
strength to reach Heaven. It is the same 
bread which gives the soul strength to reach 
the delightful rest of Contemplation, the dawn 
on earth of eternal happiness. Those who 
are called to this need a powerful aid in climb- 
ing the path which leads to it. They will find 
strength and courage in a very special devotion 
to the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar. 

Facts have here a paramount importance. 
St. Dominic was a great contemplative soul. 

1 John 6: 51, 55. 



182 PRACTICE OF MENTAL PRAYER 

He spent his nights in prayer and was some- 
times transported in ecstasy. So powerful 
was his prayer that he could say he had never 
asked God for anything which he had not 
obtained. Now, his devotion to the Holy 
Eucharist was admirable. He often spent 
the whole night at the foot of the Tabernacle 
and when sleep forced him to take some rest, 
he stretched himself on the floor of the 
sanctuary. 1 

St. Ignatius prepared himself for celebrating 
the Divine Mysteries with an incomparable 
attention and he devoted two hours to his 
thanksgiving. Our Lord rewarded him by 
granting him at the altar the highest con- 
templative favors which the soul can attain 
in this life. " While I was celebrating/' he 
says in his spiritual notes, " I saw the heavenly 
country and its Lord, and understood that 
there were Three distinct Persons and that 
the Second and the Third are in the Father. 2 
During the Holy Sacrifice more copious tears 
than previously came to me, interrupted by 
sobs and accompanied by such light on the 
Holy Trinity that there seemed to me nothing 

1 Bollandists, t. 35, p. 596, nri. 218, 219. 
* Ibid., t. 34, p. 539, n. 626, ad. fin. 



THE VIRTUES AND DEVOTIONS 183 

hidden in the mystery. During this Mass, 
while I was speaking of the Father, God 
knows, I knew, I felt, I saw, that He was a 
Person of the Most Blessed Trinity and I felt 
myself prompted to love Him more because 
the other Persons are present in Him in a 
special way." * 

St. Philip Neri was the great ecstatic of 
the latter part of the sixteenth century, 
his devotion to the Holy Mass was admirable. 
While he was celebrating, his countenance 
was lit up by a heavenly light and those who 
were assisting felt themselves touched to the 
depths of their soul. Sometimes he was trans- 
ported in ecstasy. 2 

St. Francis Borgia gave eight hours a day 
to Contemplation; while his devotion to the 
Holy Eucharist has made him famous. His 
countenance shone with a seraphic ardor 
during Holy. Mass, and by a divine instinct 
he recognized the churches and tabernacles 
where Jesus Christ Our Lord was really 
present. 3 

St. Alphonsus Rodriguez, a lay brother of 

1 Bollandists, t. 34, p. 540, n. 629. 

2 Cardinal Capecelatro, Vie de saint Philippe, 1: 2, ch. I. 
* Breviary y 10 October. 



184 PRACTICE OF MENTAL PRAYER 

the Society of Jesus, was raised to the highest 
Contemplation and he was insatiable in serv- 
ing Mass. 1 

St. Paschal Bay Ion, a lay brother of the 
Friars Minor of the strict observance lan- 
guished habitually with love and was often 
transported in ecstasy during prayer. In 
praise of his devotion to the Blessed Eucharist, 
it is enough to recall the fact that he was 
declared patron of all Eucharistic Confra- 
ternities by the Sovereign Pontiff, Leo XIII. 2 

St. Mary Magdalen de Pazzi knew the most 
wonderful mystic ways. So ardent was her 
desire of receiving Jesus in the Sacrament of 
love, that no longer being able to restrain it, 
she used to say to her Daughters: "How 
many hours are left before Communion? Alas! 
if we loved Jesus, this time, although so short, 
would seem like a whole year." 3 

Ten years before her blessed death St. 
Teresa was raised to the highest of all con- 
templative graces, the favor of Spiritual 
Marriage. She had just received Communion 
from the hand of St. John of the Cross. Here 

1 Breviary, 30 October. 

2 Ibid., 17 May. 

8 Vie de sainte Marie Madeleine de Pazzi, par le P. C£pari, 
ch. 17. 



THE VIRTUES AND DEVOTIONS 185 

are her words: " It was at the moment when 
she (the Saint) had just communicated, that 
Our Lord showed Himself to her. He had 
that splendor, that beauty, that majesty 
which shone from Him after the Resurrection. 
He told her that it was time for her to think 
no more of what concerned herself, and that 
He would take care of her. He added other 
words which her heart can more easily feel 
than words express.' ' l Then passing to the 
description of the incomparable union that 
Our Lord granted her, the Saint adds: " That 
wh ch God . . communicates to the soul 
in an instant, is such a great secret, such a 
high favor and transports the soul with such 
unutterable pleasure, that I know not with 
what to compare it. All I can say is that Our 
Lord at that instant wishes to show it the 
grandeur of the glory of Heaven in a sublime 
manner, which no vision or spiritual pleasure 
in any way resembles. As I conceive it, it 
is what I call the spirit of the soul becoming 
one and the same thing with God." 2 

So, then, O contemplative souls, prepare 
yourselves to receive the Bread of Angels 

1 Chdteau interieur, 7 e demeure, ch. 2; t. 3, pp. 535. 536. 

2 Ibid., p. 537. 



186 PRACTICE OF MENTAL PRAYER 

with all the devotion of which you are capable; 
give all the time allowed by the Rule to the 
Thanksgiving; go and visit Jesus in the Tab- 
ernacle during your free time. There, pros- 
trated at His Feet, anticipate the wishes of 
His Divine Heart by praying for the Church, 
which He loved so well that He gave His Life 
for it, and make reparation for the injuries 
He receives in the Sacrament of love, by pro- 
found respect jo ned to the outbursts of a 
tender and compassionate heart. After that, 
know how to await the hour of the Holy 
Spirit. He will come sooner or later to visit 
you and cause you to make wonderful prog- 
ress in Contemplation. 



THE VIRTUES AND DEVOTIONS 187 



CHAPTER V 

THE END WHICH GOD HAS IN VIEW IN RAISING 
A SOUL TO PERFECT CONTEMPLATION IS NOT 
ONLY TO LEAD IT TO THE DIVINE UNION, 
BUT FURTHER TO GIVE IT COURAGE TO 
WORK AND SUFFER MUCH FOR HIS GLORY 

It is recounted in the Holy Gospel that 
Peter, contemplating Jesus transfigured on 
Thabor, said to Him: " Master, it is good for 
us to be here; let us make three tabernacles, 
one for Thee, and one for Moses and one for 
Elias." St. Luke adds: " not knowing what 
he said." 1 

Peter was wrong in thinking that the de- 
lights of the Contemplation on Thabor were 
granted him solely for his enjoyment, since 
he ought above all to have drawn courage 
from it to follow his Divine Master generously 
even to death. Alas! more than one con- 
templative soul has fallen into a like mistake 
and it is well to prevent evil. 

Christian perfection admits of three degrees. 
(In the work on " Ordinary Prayer " Part 2, 
x Luke 9; 33. 



188 PRACTICE OF MENTAL PRAYER 

chapter 13, we gave another and better known 
division; but the one now given is equally 
true and better suits the subject treated here). 

1. Working exteriorly for God, while the 
interior life is enough to maintain purity of 
intention. This is the least of all. 

2. Remaining outside exterior works in 
order to apply oneself only to the exercise of 
the interior life, such as mental prayer, Di- 
vine Offices and spiritual reading. This de- 
gree is far superior to the first, since it is 
more perfect to be united to God Himself than 
to His creatures, with God in view. 

3. Constantly dwelling in such a close 
union of love with God, that from its super- 
abundance there flows an insatiable zeal for 
working for His glory and good pleasure. 
This is the most perfect way of imitating Our 
Lord, Who, while contemplating His Father 
face to face, said in the infinite excess of His 
love: " I honor My Father,' ' 1 and: " I seek 
not My own glory." 2 And again: " That 
the world may know that I love the Father: 
And as the Father hath given Me command- 
ment, so do I. Arise, let us go hence." 3 
Here He was speaking of His Passion. 

1 John 8: 49. * John 8; 50, 8 John 14; 31, 



THE VIRTUES AND DEVOTIONS 189 

Thanks be to God, this admirable perfection 
is often found in chosen souls led by the ordi- 
nary road of meditation ; yet it is particularly 
the lot of contemplative souls, who can easily 
draw from the unspeakable delight of their 
extraordinary prayer the courage necessary 
for working and suffering much in God's 
service. The lives of the Saints prove this. 

It was not only that he might enjoy 
heavenly delight that Moses was raised to 
the vision of the Divine Essence. He was to 
draw from it courage to deliver God's people 
from Egypt. 

It is not only that the Apostles might ex- 
perience the unspeakable joys of the Holy 
Ghost that they were enriched with His gifts 
and fired with His love on the day of Pente- 
cost. In this delight from on high, they were 
to find strength to evangelize the world and 
to die martyrs. 

It is not only that he might enjoy it that 
St. Paul was raised to the third Heaven, but 
that he might have strength to correspond 
w T ith this call of Our Lord: " This man is to 
Me a vessel of election, to carry My name 
before the gentiles and kings and the chil- 
dren of Israel For I will show him how 



190 PRACTICE OF MENTAL PRAYER 

great things he must suffer for My name's 
sake." 1 

It is not only that he might taste indescrib- 
able sweetness that St. Ignatius was ravished 
in ecstasy forty times at Manresa, but that 
he might thus find the courage necessary to 
bear the imprisonment of Alcala, the per- 
secutions of Barcelona, Paris and Rome; in 
a word, that he might endure the great labors 
connected with the foundation of the Society 
of Jesus. It is the same in the case of St. 
Benedict, St. Dominic, St. Francis of Assisi, 
St. Bernard, St. Francis Xavier and many 
others. 

To the Saints' example let us add their 
teaching. St. Thomas fully supports this 
doctrine. True, he wrote these words: 

11 The growth of merit with regard to eternal 
reward consists chiefly in charity, a sure sign 
of which is exterior work supported for Jesus 
Christ. Yet a much more express mark is 
found in the one who forgets all that concerns 
this life and places his happiness in giving him- 
self up wholly to Contemplation." 2 

But a few pages further on he adds: " The 
actions of the active life are of two kinds: 

1 Acts 9: 15, 16. 2 2 a 2 ae t q, 182, a. 2, ad. 1. 



THE VIRTUES AND DEVOTIONS 191 

Some arise from the plenitude of Contem- 
plation, such as teaching and preaching, . . . 
and they are more perfect^than simple Con- 
templation. Just as it is more perfect indeed 
to shed light than to be simply luminous, so 
it is more excellent to share with others what 
has been contemplated than to confine one- 
self to Contemplation. The other actions of 
the active life consist entirely in exterior occu- 
pations, such as giving alms, offering hospi- 
tality and other things of this kind. These 
are less perfect works than Contemplation/ ' l 

The conclusion which the holy Doctor draws 
with regard to teaching and preaching applies 
equally to all work undertaken and to all 
suffering borne for God's glory. With St. 
Peter Claver, Contemplation gave rise to such 
a superabundance of love in his heart that for 
forty years he joyfully became the slave of the 
negroes of Carthagena. It was evidently 
more perfect than the ecstasies where the 
soul simply burns with Divine love, as a fire 
which causes a conflagration is more fierce 
than a furnace which burns out without 
throwing out any flames. 

As to St. John of the Cross, he describes 

1 2° 2 ae , q. 1 88, a. 6 in corp. 



192 PRACTICE OF MENTAL PRAYER 

from his own personal experience the sub- 
limes t favors of the mystic union. The proof 
that these incomparable graces were not 
granted him only to unite him with God, is 
found in his heroic life. His apostolic works 
in behalf of the poor of Durvello, the prison 
of Toledo, the ecstasy of Segovia, where John 
answered Our Divine Master Who offered 
him the choice of a reward: " Lord, to suffer 
and be despised for Thee; " * there we have a 
voice which cries aloud: The sublime favors 
which I describe have been granted me that 
I might thence draw the courage to suffer 
and work much for God's glory. 

St. Teresa, then, after having spoken of 
the highest favors of Contemplation, had 
abundant reason for saying: " By means of 
the effects of these great graces, if you have 
been careful, doubtless you have already per- 
ceived the end for which Our Lord grants 
them to certain souls in this world. Yet I 
think it is useful to speak of it here. It must 
not be imagined that Our Lord's aim is only 
to give them consolation and delight. That 
would be a great mistake, for the most marked 

1 Vie de saint Jean de la Croix, par le Pere J£rdme de Saint 
Joseph, ch. 8, 10, 16. 



THE VIRTUES AND DEVOTIONS 193 

favor that God can grant us in this world is 
to make our life like to that which His Son 
led when on earth. Thus I hold it certain 
that in granting these graces Our Lord, as I 
have sometimes said in this work, aims at 
strengthening our weakness, so as to enable 
us to endure great suffering, as He did. And, 
indeed, we see that it has always been those 
who were most like Our Lord Jesus Christ, 
who have suffered most. Think what His 
glorious Mother and His Apostles had to 
suffer. And a Saint Paul, whence did he 
draw the strength to endure such excessive 
labors? . . . Who can say how far a soul, in 
which Our Lord dwells in such a special 
manner, forgets its own rest! How little 
honors touch it! How far it is from wishing 
to be thought well of in the smallest thing! 

" Being always in the company of its divine 
Spouse, as is right, how could it be mindful 
of itself? Its only thought is to please Him 
and to find means of proving to Him its love. 
This, my Daughters, is the end of prayer; and 
in God's designs, this Spiritual Marriage is 
only destined to produce incessant works for 
His Glory." * 

1 Chdteau interieur, 7® demeure, ch. 4; t. 3, pp. 555, 556, 



194 PRACTICE OF MENTAL PRAYER 

All contemplative souls, then, must gird 
their loins and prepare themselves for hard 
work. The law is general — the method of 
complying with it alone differs. Without 
doubt, the labors of a St. Simon Stylites were 
not the same as those of a St. Francis Xavier; 
but both found in the fulness of their Con- 
templation the strength to work and suffer 
in a wonderful way for God's glory. 



PART IV 
Supernatural "Visions anb Speecfj 



CHAPTER I 

SUPERNATURAL VISIONS AND SPEECH: THEIR 
NATURE AND DIFFERENT CLASSES 

We have seen that Contemplation essen- 
tially arises from charity and increases charity. 
It presupposes, therefore, the state of grace 
and sanctifies the soul. 

It is not necessarily so with Visions and 
Speech : these are sometimes granted to sin- 
ners for their conversion. St. Paul was per- 
secuting the first Christians when he heard 
these words: " I am Jesus Whom thou per- 
secutest. It is hard for thee to kick against 
the goad." l 

Sometimes even these words do not bring 
about conversion : Caiphas prophesied and the 
gift of prophecy did not change him in the 
least. It was revealed to St Margaret of 
Cortona, while leading a sinful life, that she 
would one day arrive at a high state of sanc- 
tity and yet she still continued in disfavor 
with God for a considerable time. 

Supernatural Visions and Speech are di- 

1 Acts 9: 15. 

197 



198 PRACTICE OF MENTAL PRAYER 

vided into three classes: Corporeal Visions 
and Speech, where one sees and hears by 
means of the exterior senses, and which come 
either from the good or bad Angel, since God 
does not usually effect them Himself directly. 

Visions and Speech of the imagination, 
where one sees and hears by means of the 
interior senses. God does not usually effect 
these, either, without a medium, and so they 
too come from the good or the bad Angel. 

In practice, it is well to note that in the 
natural order one sees and hears more clearly 
by means of the exterior than by the interior 
senses. In the supernatural order, on the 
contrary, the interior Visions and Speech are 
much clearer and more vivid than the exterior. 
This is due to the good or the bad Angel's 
wonderful power over the imagination. 

Words of the imagination almost always 
seem to be uttered in the depths of the soul. 
Sometimes, however, they seem to come from 
Heaven, or from close by. 

Lastly, there are intellectual Visions and 
Speech, where one sees and hears after the 
manner of the Angels, without any help from 
the imagination. In this case, articulate 
words or a sensible sign will be looked for in 



SUPERNATURAL VISIONS 199 

vain. God alone can be their author, Whose 
Almighty power is needed to make a soul, 
imprisoned in a mortal body, hear and see 
after the manner of the Angels. 

Speech is more usual than Visions, the 
reason being that these supernatural graces 
are ordered by God for the spiritual good of 
the soul which receives them. Now, this good 
depends more on the hearing than on the 
sight. ' Faith, then, cometh by hearing/ ' 
says the Apostle. 1 

Finally, in supernatural Speech words of 
the imagination are much more usual than 
corporeal or intellectual words. They are 
more frequent than corporeal words because, 
since God's aim is the soul's sanctification, 
He employs by preference the imagination, 
which has more effect upon the intelligence 
than the corporal senses. It is more frequent 
than intellectual Speech, since this latter is 
much more miraculous. Now, God rarely 
works great miracles. 

1 Rom. 10: 17. 



200 PRACTICE OF MENTAL PRAYER 



CHAPTER II 

THE PRECAUTIONS TO BE TAKEN BEFORE 
PLACING FAITH IN SUPERNATURAL VISIONS 
AND SPEECH 

Corporeal and imaginary Visions and 
Speech come either from the good Angel or 
from the devil. In these uncertain favors, 
then, one runs the risk of taking, as coming 
from the good Angel, what may really come 
from the bad. God alone, on the contrary, 
can be the cause of intellectual Visions and 
Speech. Yet even then all danger of illusion 
has not disappeared, for there are souls which 
take a simple but unusual attraction of grace 
for intellectual Speech. So whatever the 
nature of the Visions and Speech, vigilance 
and prudence are called for. 

The first thing to be done is to examine 
whether the Visions and Speech have the 
characteristics of the good Spirit. These 
characteristics are seven in number. 

First Characteristic. Humility 

The good Spirit urges one not to take pride 
in the grace received and to keep it as secret 



SUPERNATURAL VISIONS 201 

as possible. After God's apparition to Moses 
in the burning bush, he exclaims: " Who am 
I that I should go to Pharao? " 1 When 
Isaias had heard the songs of the Seraphim, 
he declared that his lips were unclean. After 
the miraculous draught of fishes, St. Peter 
exclaims: "Depart from me, for I am a 
sinful man, O Lord.^ 2 And finally the Most 
Blessed Virgin, when visited by the Angel 
Gabriel, who announces to her the greatest 
of mysteries, answers: Behold the . hand- 
maid of the Lord." 3 

On the contrary, in similar cases the devil 
incites to the self-complacency which ruined 
the rebel angels, and to the display of these 
extraordinary favors. 

Second Characteristic. Obedience 

The good Spirit incites to obedience in 
execution and judgment. As soon as the 
Superior points out a fault needing correction, 
the work of eradicating it begins ; as soon as 
he forbids a corporal mortification, it is 
dropped; when the Confessor gives a counsel, 
it is immediately adopted. The devil, on 
the contrary, stirs up obstinacy in ideas, the 

1 Ex. 3: 11. 2 Luke 5: 8. 5 Luke i: 35. 



202 PRACTICE OF MENTAL PRAYER 

doing of mortifications without permission 
and even in opposition to the Confessor's 
advice. 

Third Characteristic. The Observance of 
Rules and Community Life 

The good Spirit urges the scrupulous ob- 
servance of the smallest rules, and the making 
of no exceptions to the community life, 
except in cases of necessity. The devil, on 
the other hand, urges that the rules and com- 
munity life should be lightly regarded, under 
the specious pretext that one is being guided 
by a higher light. For instance, one will want 
to pray during the night but will ask to rise 
after the Community in the morning. Little 
food is taken, but a special diet is required, 
and so on. 

Fourth Characteristic. Peace of Soul 

The good Spirit produces a profound, de- 
lightful and heavenly peace in the soul, which 
is a preparation for union with God, in accord- 
ance with what is written: " And His (God's) 
place is in peace." 1 The devil, on the con- 
trary, brings about trouble, since this state 

x Ps. 75: 3. 



SUPERNATURAL VISIONS 203 

of soul is favorable to sin, or at least prevents 
progress in virtue. 

It must not be thought, however, that the 
good Spirit always begins by bringing about 
peace, for in ■ many Visions He begins by 
putting a certain fear in the soul, which soon 
disappears and melts into a delightful peace. 
Divine Wisdom has thus ordained because 
fear gives rise to reverence for God — a very 
necessary quality when there is a question of 
receiving an exceptional communication from 
God. When the Angel of the Lord appears 
to Zachary, fear takes possession of him, but 
the Angel reassures him by saying: " Fear 
not, Zachary.' ' x In the same way, when Our 
Lord appears to the Apostles in the Cenacle, 
they are troubled and afraid, but Jesus calms 
them by saying: " Peace be to you; it is I, 
fear not." 2 

Our Lord Himself wished to point out to 
St. Catherine of Sienna this sign which helps 
to distinguish between the good and evil 
spirit. " If you ask Me how it is possible 
to recognize what comes from the devil and 
what comes from Me, I answer you that it is 
by this sign: if it is the devil presenting him- 

1 Luke i: 13. 2 Luke 24: 36. 



204 PRACTICE OF MENTAL PRAYER 

self to the soul under the guise of light, the 
soul is overjoyed at it; but the longer the 
vision lasts, the more the joy diminishes, and 
soon only trouble, sadness and darkness, ob- 
scuring all the interior, are left. But if it is 
I, the Eternal Truth, visiting the soul, it 
experiences a holy fear at the first moment 
and together with this fear, joy, assurance 
and a sweet prudence, which is the cause that 
while doubting, it does not doubt." l 

Fifth Characteristic. Purity of Action and 
Intention 

True Visions always bear the stamp of 
perfect purity, while false Visions incite to 
more or less misplaced liberties. Let no one 
raise as objection certain marks of excessive 
love given by Our Lord to St. Catherine of 
Sienna, St. Rose of Lima, Blessed Angela of 
Foligno, Blessed Margaret Mary and other 
privileged souls. From this holy familiarity 
there always comes something infinitely pure 
and akin to the incomprehensible love of the 
Son of God, which makes Him descend from 
Heaven upon the Altar and from the Altar 
into our heart, to there unite Himself with us. 

1 Dialogue 71 , Poussielgue, 1885, t. 1, p. 179. 



SUPERNATURAL VISIONS 205 

As to the affections in true Visions, the soul 
feels loved with the purest love. Visions of 
which the devil is the agent, on the contrary, 
bear the stamp of a troubled love which is 
not entirely chaste. " In vain," says St. 
Teresa, " will he (the devil) begin by making 
you enjoy a certain amount of pleasure. The 
soul rejects it with an indescribable horror. 
It finds the pleasure perfectly different from 
that which is experienced in a true Vision. 
Besides, the soul sees that the love shown 
does not bear the characteristics of a chaste 
and pure love, so that in a very short time it 
discovers and recognizes the enemy/ ' l 

Sixth Characteristic. Dignity of Deportment 
and Address 

True Visions are always full of dignity and 
reserve. The words uttered are never empty, 
but always to God's glory and the salvation 
of souls. The devil, on the contrary, even 
when he attempts to take upon himself a vir- 
tuous exterior, always displays a something 
more or less out of keeping in his attitude and 
lingers over vain and useless words. If there 
is anything grotesque about the Vision, it 

1 Vie par elle-meme, ch. 28 ; t. 1 , p. 343. 



206 PRACTICE OF MENTAL PRAYER 

is a sure sign that it proceeds from the devil, 
or an overwrought brain. 

Seventh Characteristic. Joy in Suffering 

True Visions inspire disgust for what nature 
loves and cause joy to be found in sickness, 
humiliation and ingratitude; in a word, in 
suffering. Visions of which the devil is the 
agent always savor more or less of the earth 
and are the cause of joy being sought in com- 
fort, praise and honor. 

Our Lord said to Blessed Angela of Foligno : 
11 You will know that I am within you when 
you will not only be content to patiently 
suffer the evil which will be inflicted upon you 
and said about you, but when you will regard 
it on the contrary as a great benefit. This 
sign will fully assure you of God's grace." x 

When a Vision has not all these character- 
istics of the good Spirit, it must be immedi- 
ately rejected, as it comes from the devil or 
a deranged imagination, On the other hand, 
is a Vision or Speech which possesses all the 
characteristics of the good Spirit to be immedi- ' 
ately accepted? Logically it would seem so, 

1 Vie ecrite par le Frere Arnauld, ch. 5. Bollandists, t. i, p- 
200, n. 89. 



SUPERNATURAL VISIONS 207 

and yet prudence gives a negative reply. 
Illusion is so easy in such matters that before 
giving a decided answer, the stamp of time 
must be awaited. A certain resistance to 
these supernatural manifestations must even 
be exacted from those who receive them. 
Such is the teaching common to the Saints. 

St. Ignatius of Loyola used to say: " Visions 
and revelations, which often deceive and dis- 
turb the faint and feeble-hearted . . . should 
never be desired or asked for. Nay more, 
according to the counsel of the Saints and 
Masters of the spiritual life, one must always, 
as far as lies within one's power, shun them 
and be suspicious of them." l 

St. John of the Cross thus expresses his 
opinion: " In the case of pious persons, the 
senses are sometimes struck by objects which 
are supernaturally presented to them. For 
instance, the eyes perceive the forms and 
persons of the other life, such and such a 
Saint, good or bad angels, marvellous light 
and splendor. The hearing perceives mys- 
terious words, sometimes uttered by these 
apparitions, sometimes the source of which 
cannot be located. The smell is affected by 

1 Bollandists, Vie de saint Ignace, t. 34, p. 537, n. 614. 



208 PRACTICE OF MENTAL PRAYER 

exquisite scents, whose source is unknown. 
In the same way these persons experience 
extraordinary sweetness in their taste, and 
their touch too feels a kind of pleasantness, 
such that it seems to them they are plunged 
in enjoyment to the marrow of their bones 
and that they are swimming in a torrent of 
delight. . . . Now it is important to know 
that although the extraordinary effects which 
may take place in the corporal senses are the 
work of God, one must never be self-com- 
placent about them nor trust in them with 
certainty. Nay more, one must absolutely 
shun them, without examining whether they 
arise from a good or bad princip e. The more 
exterior and corporal they are, the less certain 
is it that God is their Author, for it is charac- 
teristic of His Being to communicate Itself to 
the spirit. There is more security and more 
real profit for the soul in interior graces than 
in sensible consolations, from which frequent 
errors can arise." l 

St. Philip Neri recommended his followers 
to reject all these things (Visions and revela- 
tions) as far as they could, without fear of 
displeasing God. This resistance, he added, 

1 Montie du Carmel, i: 2, ch. n., t. 2, pp. 167, 168. 



SUPERNATURAL VISIONS 209 

is one of the surest means one has of dis- 
tinguishing between true and false visions. 1 

St. Alphonsus de Liguori says: " Every 
effort must be made to banish visions, speech 
and revelations. . . . Let the Confessor, then, 
order that they be unceasingly rejected, but 
always with humility and without any sign 
of disdain." 2 

Let it not be said that when a Vision bears 
all the characteristics of the Spirit of God, it 
is insulting God and depriving oneself of great 
graces to reject it. This argument has no 
value. Why? 

In the first place, Visions do not fail to 
offer a certain danger to one's salvation. God 
usually allows that, if there are true ones, 
there should also be false ones. Man's life 
on earth is a warfare where God and the devil 
struggle for souls. If God makes use of 
Visions and Speech to attract them, is it not 
meet that He should allow the devil to attract 
them in the same way, and consequently, 
may one not predict that a soul which has 
true Visions will also have false ones? Now, 

1 Vie de saint Philippe de Neri, ch. 26. Bollandists, t. 19, 
P- 587, n. 375. 

2 Homo apostolicus, App. 1, n. 23, 



210 PRACTICE OF MENTAL PRAYER 

God is pleased to have us reject even the best 
things for the sole reason that they might be 
a danger to the salvation of our soul. To act 
thus is to act with prudence, and as Our Lady- 
did, when on hearing the Angel's salutation, 
she was troubled and asked herself what this 
salutation might mean. 

In the second place, Visions bring honor. 
God makes use of them to clothe His servants 
with the reputation of sanctity, and the 
Church makes frequent mention of them in 
her Offices, to the glory of the Saints. Now, 
God is pleased to have us reject even the best 
things on the sole ground that they bring 
honor. Thus the Spirit of God urges men to 
flee from the Episcopacy, from being made 
Superiors, from important pulpits. Yet all 
these are very good things in themselves. 

In the third place, Visions are very pleasant, 
while the life of pure faith is rough. Now 
God is pleased to have us prefer the bitter to 
the sweet for His love and following the 
example of Jesus Christ Our Lord. 

Lastly, the Visions and revelations which 
have been most renowned in the Church, 
like those of St. Catherine of Sienna, of St. 
Teresa, of Blessed Margaret Mary, have 



SUPERNATURAL VISIONS 211 

always been subjected to the test of contra- 
diction. Hence it becomes clear that a reve- 
lation must always be suspected when it has 
not triumphed over numerous obstacles. 

However, here, as in all things, prudence 
must be reasonable. If the Visions always 
continue, in spite of the resistance offered, 
and have the characteristics of the good Spirit, 
to persist in rejecting them would not be 
prudent zeal. They must be accepted with 
gratitude, humility and detachment. 

With gratitude, since if^God requires grati- 
tude for ordinary graces, which He refuses to 
none, for a much stronger reason does He 
expect it for the extraordinary favors which 
He grants only to a few. 

Gratitude is not enough, for while singing 
a hymn of thanksgiving to God, it is possible 
to add to it a hymn to one's own glory, like 
the Pharisee who said: " O God, I give Thee 
thanks that I am not as the rest of men." * 
Humility, then, must be added, which con- 
sists in holding oneself unworthy of such 
favors and consequently in not complaining 
when God withdraws them; in not preferring 
oneself to those to whom God does not grant 

1 Luke 18: ii. 



212 PRACTICE OF MENTAL PRAYER 

like favors, and in not talking of them except 
in case of necessity, that is, in order to be 
directed. A very rare humility, for St. Philip 
Neri says: "It is difficult not to be puffed 
up with vanity in Divine Visions; more diffi- 
cult to hold oneself little worthy of them; 
very difficult to believe oneself quite un- 
worthy and not to prefer their sweetness to 
patience, humility and obedience." 1 

Again, gratitude and humility are not 
enough, since one may, even with these two 
virtues, become too attached to these Visions, 
which are only God's gift, and it is to God 
that one must be attached. It is imperative, 
then, to be detached from them, that is, not 
to recall their remembrance unless for grave 
reasons, such as to excite oneself to confidence 
during a period of discouragement ; and in the 
next place, to esteem them less than solid 
virtues and sufferings borne from pure love 
of Jesus Christ. 

This is the common teaching of the Saints. 
St. Ignatius of Loyola said: " When one has 
cut short all curiosity, esteem and desire for 
Visions and revelations . . . and God grati- 
fies one by sending them, they must be 

1 Bollandists, t. 19, p. 587, n. 374. 



SUPERNATURAL VISIONS 213 

accepted with fear, humility, thanksgiving 
and prudence." l 

St. John of the Cross says: "If we have 
insisted so much on the necessity of rejecting 
Visions and revelations; if we have laid stress 
upon recommending Confessors not to en- 
courage souls to this kind of communication, 
it is not because spiritual Directors are always 
obliged to hold them in dislike and disdain to 
such an extent as to give occasion to persons 
to be too reserved about them and to deprive 
them of the courage to manifest them. By 
thus closing the door upon their free manifes- 
tation, Directors expose these persons to a 
host of dangers. Besides, these graces are a 
means. Now, since it is a means and a way 
by which God conducts these souls, it is not 
fitting to disdain them and there is no reason 
to be afraid, still less to be scandalized. But 
one must proceed very gently, kindly and 
calmly, and encourage the souls by giving 
them the chance of clear explanation. If 
need be, one may even enjoin explanation 
upon them. Indeed, souls sometimes experi- 
ence such great difficulty in making these 
declarations that nothing must be neglected 

1 BoUandists, Vie de saint Ignace, t. 34, p, 537, n f 6l4r 



214 PRACTICE OF MENTAL PRAYER 

to bring them to make them. Afterwards 
they must be directed in the sure road of 
faith, taught to turn their eyes from all these 
supernatural gifts and encouraged to detach 
their mind and heart from them, so as to have 
free scope in reaching the heights of perfec- 
tion. They must, in fine, be convinced that 
a single action or act of the will performed 
through love has more value before God than 
all heavenly Visions and revelations, and that 
many souls who are not enriched with like 
favors are, beyond a doubt, infinitely further 
advanced than others who have received a 
profusion of them." l 

St. Alphonsus de Liguori is of the same 
opinion. A Carmelite prioress wrote to him, 
saying: " I am the victim of numberless fears 
and hesitations, and, according to many Di- 
rectors, I am the dupe of deceptive illusions/' 
The Saint answered her: " The Directors who 
have spoken thus to you have done so for 
a good purpose and they have followed the 
general rule that souls favored by God must 
be humiliated and kept under to defend them 
from pride. But this rule does not apply to 
your soul. You do not pose as an ecstatic 

1 Montee du Carmel, i: 2, ch. 22; t. 2, pp. 299, 300. 



SUPERNATURAL VISIONS 215 

or a prophetess; you do not go hither and 
thither opening your secret self to those about 
you, as other people do, who thus cause strong 
suspicion that they are both deceived and 
deceivers. You speak of this, as I believ6, 
solely when it is necessary to do so and to ask 
help and advice. On the other hand, Our 
Lord gives you light enough to show you what 
you are and what you deserve in return for 
your faults and miseries. Why fear, then, that 
the devil is deceiving you? The devil? It is 
God, God who inspires you and ceaselessly 
urges you, for He wishes you to be wholly His. ' ' x 
Let us conclude by a remarkable instance 
which fully confirms all this doctrine. In 
1582 a young Neapolitan girl named Ursula 
Benincasa, who later on became the foundress 
of the Theatines, and whose virtues were 
declared heroic by Pius VI, heard Our Lord 
tell her to go to the Pope, Gregory XIII, and 
warn him to be more vigorous in reforming 
discipline and morals. The Sovereign Pon- 
tiff did not reject the advice, but wishing to 
proceed with prudence, he appointed a com- 
mission to examine Ursula's spirit. This 
commission, composed of cardinals and men 

1 Lettre 143, Desclee, 1888, t. 1, p. 251. 



216 PRACTICE OF MENTAL PRAYER 

of the greatest worth, such as Father Claude 
Aquaviva, General of the Society of Jesus, 
referred the matter to the judgment of St. 
Philip Neri, the oracle of Rome. At the very 
first meeting, he summoned the maiden who 
had had the Ecstasy, and in order to try her, 
addressed her before the whole assembly as 
a " proud, ignorant, lying, hypocritical woman 
possessed by the devil." Ursula answered 
that she deserved every reproach and that 
her only desire was to be cured if she was the 
devil's dupe. As St. Philip was not con- 
vinced by the great humility with which 
Ursula received this test, he continued to 
mortify her for seven months, even going so 
far as to deprive her of Mass and Communion 
and to threaten her with the Inquisition. At 
length the maiden's humility, obedience and 
gentleness conquered all doubts and Gregory 
XIII, convinced that the warning came from 
heaven, appointed a new commission com- 
posed of four cardinals, among whom was St. 
Charles Borromeo and Blessed Paul of Arezzo. 
The great and salutary fruits which resulted 
for the Church clearly proved that the finger 
of God was there. 1 

1 St. Philip Neri, by Cardinal Capecelatro, Bk. 3, ch. 4. 



SUPERNATURAL VISIONS 217 
CHAPTER III 

FIVE WAYS IN WHICH GOD SPEAKS SUPERNAT- 
URALLY TO SOULS AND HOW THEY SHOULD 
RECEIVE THESE EXTRAORDINARY FAVORS 

First way. The words, either corporeal, 
imaginary or intellectual, instantly accom- 
plish what they mean. For instance, a soul 
still attached to the vanities of earth hears 
these words: " Henceforth I wish you to be 
attached only to Me." Immediately it loses 
all attraction for creatures. Or again, a soul 
which is overwhelmed by an agony of fear 
which seems as though it must last for ever, 
hears these simple words: " It is I, fear not." 
It instantly finds itself filled with a cloudless 
peace and heroic courage, without knowing 
how. These words, which in an instant 
change a soul's state, are evidently always 
very precious, but sometimes they are of 
incomparable power. In a moment they 
raise a soul to high sanctity, as was the case 
with Abraham, according to St. John of the 
Cross. God said to him: " Walk before Me, 
and be perfect." l These words at once pro- 

1 Gen. 17: 1. 



218 PRACTICE OF MENTAL PRAYER 

duced the most eminent sanctity in the great 
Patriarch. 

A similar prodigy is found in the life of 
St. Teresa. One day she heard these words: 
11 I wish you to hold no more converse with 
men but only with the Angels. May God be 
everlastingly blessed," she adds, " for having 
given me in a moment the liberty which I 
could not have gained in many years, although 
I had often done myself such violence that 
my health had greatly suffered from it. As 
this was the work of the All-Powerful and true 
Master of all creatures, I experienced no 
pain." 1 

In these cases, illusion is impossible. Only 
the hand of the All-Powerful can effect such 
a change in an instant. All the soul has to 
do is to receive this signal grace with humility 
and gratitude. 

As a rule, the words which transform a soul 
are few, but they enter so deeply into the 
memory that they never leave it. They are 
most often imaginary and the soul hears them 
in its very depths. 

Second way. Words spoken to the soul for 
its instruction, referring either to the mysteries 

1 Vie par elle-metne, ch. 24; t. 1, pp. 282, 283. 



SUPERNATURAL VISIONS 219 

of faith or to the meaning of a passage of 
Scripture, or to the excellence or practice 
of a particular virtue. 

Sometimes it is neither God nor the good 
Angel who utters those words, but the soul 
which says them to itself, as we are in the 
habit of doing when holding an interior dis- 
cussion with ourselves. The soul is right, 
however, in attributing them to God in a 
certain sense, since it pronounces them under 
the influence of a special supernatural light 
and with the particular help of the Holy- 
Ghost. This help does not, however, amount 
to infallibility, but allows of possible errors. 
Besides this, the devil may also play his part. 
Such words, then, must not be unreservedly 
accepted nor without the control of learned 
and competent men. They are of much less 
value than the preceding, for they do not 
create virtue in the soul but only give an 
impetus towards its acquisition. 

Third way. Words expressing a clear and 
distinct command. St. Aloysius of Gonzaga 
heard a voice directing him to join the Society 
of Jesus. St. Teresa received the command 
to work for the reform of the Carmelites; 
Blessed Margaret Mary to spread devotion 



220 PRACTICE OF MENTAL PRAYER 

to the Sacred Heart. Here again illusion is 
easy and in order to prevent oneself from 
falling into it, these words must be submitted 
to the rigid censure of the reason and to the 
judgment of prudent and learned men. 

Fourth way. Our Lord asks a soul to show 
Him its desires. It is His love which makes 
Him speak and He cherishes this soul and 
cannot refuse it anything. As a rule, these 
w 7 ords are only heard by souls who have 
reached great sanctity and who have rendered 
their Divine Master conspicuous service. St. 
Thomas heard Our Lord say to him while he 
was praying at the foot of his crucifix: " You 
have written well of Me, Thomas; what 
reward do you wish? " In the same way St. 
John of the Cross was questioned by Our 
Lord as to the reward he wished for in return 
for so many labors undertaken for God's 
glory. 

As a rule, the Holy Ghost suggests the 
answer. St. Thomas replied: " Lord, I only 
ask for Thee as my reward; " St. John of the 
Cross: " Lord, to suffer and to be despised 
for Thee; " Blessed Margaret Mary: " Lord, 
that which will procure Thee more glory.' ' 

If, as is the exception, a soul does not feel 



SUPERNATURAL VISIONS 221 

drawn by any wish, it would be well to say 
simply: " Lord, what is most in conformity 
with Thy glory and Thy good pleasure." 

Fifth way. God manifests the hidden pres- 
ent or future. When it is a question of the 
present, the manifestation is called revelation; 
of the future, prophecy. Let us speak first 
of revelations. They are of different kinds: 
knowledge of what is taking place at a dis- 
tance ; an insight into the conscience of others ; 
knowledge of the state in which souls find 
themselves after death, in Hell, Heaven or 
Purgatory. St. Pius V is present in spirit 
at the Battle of Lepanto; St. Teresa sees 
Blessed Azevedo and his thirty-nine Com- 
panions in martyrdom going up to Heaven. 
St. Mary Magdalen de Pazzi openly reads the 
souls of her novices; St. Teresa and Blessed 
Margaret Mary see people whom they knew 
on earth, in Purgatory. 

It is useless to prove how the knowledge of 
the hidden present may include illusion, and 
consequently it is needless to recommend to 
the Director the greatest prudence. Yet this 
prudence must not result in a foregone con- 
clusion never to accept or approve, no matter 
what may be the signs of credibility. It is 



222 PRACTICE OF MENTAL PRAYER 

certain that there are true revelations, sent 
by God to be made public. For instance, the 
revelations made to Blessed Margaret Mary- 
relative to the Souls in Purgatory had as 
their end either the consolation of a family 
or the obtaining of prayers. 

In practice, therefore, the Confessor must 
first show himself very prudent and reserved 
in approving the truth of the matter, still 
more so in allowing it to be communicated to 
others. If he thinks finally that he should 
grant this permission, let him not, as a general 
rule, take it upon himself to make the com- 
munication, but let the one who has received 
the revelation do this. 

Let us pass to prophecies. They can lend 
themselves to many an error, which in general 
is the result of one of the three following 
causes : 

First, there are some spirits so unevenly 
balanced and souls so foolishly vain that they 
will not hesitate to make more or less appar- 
ently tempting prophecies, in order to attract 
attention. Every one knows how many such 
predictions, which never come true, give the 
impious the opportunity of deriding the holiest 
things. 



SUPERNATURAL VISIONS 223 

In the second place, the prophecies may 
come from the devil. If, unhappily, they 
come true, the devil by means of his natural 
wisdom having guessed right, the Director 
and the disciple, who have been imprudent 
enough to conclude from this fact that the 
prophecies came from the good Spirit, find 
themselves in a very dangerous position. 

Lastly, even in the prophecies whose Author 
is God, there is room for error, since they may 
be wrongly interpreted. The prophecies of 
Holy Writ are Divine. Yet the Church must 
explain them. How, then, can one dare to 
affirm that prophecies made to individuals 
do not need explanation? Both as regards the 
prophecies of Holy Writ and the prophecies 
true in themselves which have been made to 
individuals, the false interpretations at all 
times have been numerous. 

David says, when speaking of Jesus Christ 
Our Lord: " He shall rule from sea to sea and 
from the river unto the ends of the earth." x 
The Jews, even the disciples of Our Divine 
Master, interpreted this passage as signifying 
an earthly kingdom, and were greatly mis- 
taken. 

iPs. 71: 8. 



224 PRACTICE OF MENTAL PRAYER 

Jonas went through Ninive repeating: "Yet 
forty days, and Ninive shall be destroyed." l 
The forty days went by and Ninive was not 
destroyed. The prophecy was only condi- 
tional: Ninive shall be destroyed unless it 
does penance. The prophet Jonas had taken 
a simply conditional prediction for absolute. 
He was mistaken. 

Blessed Joan of Arc is in prison. St. 
Catherine appears to her and announces help. 
Joan thinks she means her deliverance and 
that she will leave the prison in which she 
is shut up. It was indeed a question of 
deliverance, but of a very different kind. 
Joan was to escape, not the hands of the 
English but the misery of this life by a glori- 
ous martyrdom. In St. Catherine's pre- 
diction she had misinterpreted the word 
"help." 

St. Vincent Ferrer, when preaching at Sala- 
manca, announced the end of the world as at 
hand. In order to prove the truth of this 
prediction he raised a woman to life who had 
been dead two days, and yet the end of the 
world did not arrive. The prophecy, like 
that of Jonas, was conditional. Penance was 

^on. 3: 4. 



SUPERNATURAL VISIONS 225 

done in the principal kingdoms of Europe 
and the chastisement was avoided. 

The fixed determination to reject all proph- 
ecies, however trustworthy their signs of 
credibility, would be neither reasonable nor 
Christian. However, the Director should 
show himself very slow in giving his appro- 
bation, and especially in allowing them to be 
made public ; and lastly, he will not take upon 
himself the responsibility of proclaiming them. 



226 PRACTICE OF MENTAL PRAYER 



CHAPTER IV 

ST. IGNATIUS' RULE FOR AVOIDING ILLUSIONS 
IN THE USE OF SUPERNATURAL SPEECH 

St. Ignatius begins by laying down this 
principle: " It belongs to God alone to give 
consolation to the soul without preceding 
cause, for it is the property of the Creator to 
enter, go out and cause movements in the 
soul bringing it all into love of His Divine 
Majesty. I say without cause, without any 
previous sense or knowledge of any object 
through which such consolation would come 
through one's own acts of the understanding 
and will." * 

Doubtless, we can make our soul pass from 
desolation to consolation, but not in an in- 
stant, by the sole command of our own free 
will. We are of necessity obliged to have 
recourse to reflections, reasoning and numer- 
ous acts of the will, and this requires a certain 
amount of time. 

In the same way, the good and the evil 
spirit can produce joy in a troubled soul, by 

1 Spiritual Exercises, Discernment of Spirits, Week 2, Rule 2. 



SUPERNATURAL VISIONS 227 

playing upon the understanding and the will, 
like orators. But that again requires more 
or less time. God only, by His Almighty 
Power, can change the soul's state in a mo- 
ment. If, then, the passage from desolation 
to consolation is instantaneous, God's finger 
is certainly there. Souls conducted along the 
usual road have no other sign, and it is, 
strictly speaking, sufficient. 

In the case of souls led by the extraordi- 
nary road of Contemplation, they have a 
second sign of great value added to the former 
— the very nature of the sudden consolation, 
which St. Ignatius describes in the following 
terms: " It happens very often that Our Lord 
moves and urges our soul to such and such 
an undertaking. He does so by opening our 
soul, that is, by speaking in it without any 
noise of words, and by raising it wholly and 
entirely to His Divine Love, without its being 
possible for us, even when we would, to resist 
the feeling which He puts within us." 1 Here 
will be recognized the perfect Contemplation 
of which God alone can be the Author. 

St. John of the Cross, when treating of the 
same subject, says: " This sublime and loving 

1 Premilre lettre d la sceur Rigadelle, lettre 8, pp. 42,43. 



228 PRACTICE OF MENTAL PRAYER 

knowledge of God belongs to the unitive state. 
It is the union itself and consists of a mysteri- 
ous touch of the Divinity on the depths of the 
soul. . . . The devil cannot enter into a favor 
at the same time so elevated and so profound. 
He remains always powerless to penetrate 
into the soul's interior and to suddenly trans- 
form and enflame it with love, as do the 
visits of the Well-beloved/ ' * 

This principle stated, St. Ignatius draws 
from it the following conclusion, so very use- 
ful for the direction of the souls led by the 
path of Contemplation: " When the spiritual 
consolation is without any previous cause, it 
is certain that it is free from all illusion, since, 
as we have said, it can only come from God. 
Yet the person who receives this consolation 
must be very attentive and watchful in dis- 
tinguishing the exact time of the consolation 
from that which immediately follows. At this 
latter time, when the soul is still all fervent 
and, as it were, penetrated by the precious 
remains of the consolation passed, by means 
of its own reasoning, as a result of its natural 
habits, and in consequence of its conceptions 
and judgments, it forms, under the influence 

1 Montee du Carmel, Bk. 2, ch. 26, t. 2, p. 319. 



SUPERNATURAL VISIONS 229 

of the good or evil Spirit, resolutions and 
decisions which it has not received directly 
from God Our Lord and which, in conse- 
quence, must be well examined before placing 
implicit faith in them and putting them into 
practice." x 

As one sees, St. Ignatius distinguishes 
between two periods of time: the first, that 
very short moment when the soul raised to 
perfect Contemplation is ingulfed in God. 
Then it is no longer the soul that lives but 
God Who lives in it. All error is impossible. 
The second period of time is that which im- 
mediately follows. The intellect and the will 
being no longer absorbed by the knowledge 
and love of God, one may give ear to interior 
words having as their author either the soul 
itself, the good Angel, or the devil. None of 
these words are infallible. 

In the first place, the interior words which 
the soul speaks to itself are not infallible, 
because the human intellect is liable to mis- 
take. Let no one urge that during this second 
period, where the soul is still entirely pene- 
trated by the remains of perfect Contem- 
plation, it is helped in a special way by the 

1 Spiritual Exercises, Discernment of Spirits, Week 2, Rule 8. 



230 PRACTICE OF MENTAL PRAYER 

Holy Ghost. That is true, but assistance is 
one thing, infallibility another. 

As to the good Angel, he evidently intends 
to give us good counsel, but he is sometimes 
ignorant of the mysterious designs of Divine 
Wisdom and can then only point out in a 
likely way that which is most to God's glory. 
Thus it is that the Angel Gabriel and the Per- 
sian Angel were not of the same mind as to 
the advisability of the return of the Jews from 
Babylon to Jerusalem. 1 Here too, then, there 
was no infallibility. 

Lastly, not only can the devil make a 
mistake, but his constant wish is to lead us 
into error. The conclusion is obvious : before 
putting the resolutions and decisions taken 
during this second period into execution, they 
must be seriously examined and judged by 
one or more prudent, learned and super- 
natural men. 

St. Ignatius only speaks of a work to be 
done, and with reason, for if it is only a 
question of impulse towards virtue, such 
minute examination would not be necessary. 
Even though the devil transformed himself 
into an angel of light, the impulse would 

1 Daniel, 10: 13. 



SUPERNATURAL VISIONS 231 

be useful to the soul, provided it receives 
it with humility and gratitude towards the 
Divine Bounty. The wicked angel will de- 
part baffled. 



PART V 
Vocation to Cxtraorbtnarp (graces! 



CHAPTER I 

CONTEMPLATION IS NOT THE ONLY MEANS OF 
ATTAINING CHRISTIAN PERFECTION 

Sanctity consists essentially in the trans- 
formation of our will into the Divine Will- 
No one disputes this point. Now this trans- 
formation may be obtained without the grace 
of Contemplation, and by Meditation alone. 
Such is the opinion of the Saints and masters 
of the spiritual life most versed in this matter. 

Let us cite some authorities : 

St. Ignatius of Loyola writes to Doctor 
Emmanuel de Miona, his former Confessor 
at Alcala and Paris: " I beg of you twice, 
three times over, and as many times as is 
possible for the service of God to do what I 
have told you, so that Our Divine Master 
may not one day reproach me for not having 
urged you with all the strength in my power, 
in as much as the Spiritual Exercises are the 
best I can conceive of, feel or understand in 
this life, either as regards the advancement 
man may draw from them for himself, or as 

235 



236 PRACTICE OF MENTAL PRAYER 

regards the fruit, help and spiritual advantage 
that he can draw from them for others." * 

Thus, according to St. Ignatius, the Spirit- 
ual Exercises are the best that can be con- 
ceived of in this life for the soul's advance- 
ment. Hence it must be concluded that their 
methods of prayer, all of which be ong to 
Meditation, are enough for reaching the sum- 
mit of Christian perfection. Contemplation, 
therefore, is not necessary for its attainment. 

St. Francis of Sales says: ' Happy they 
who lead a superhuman, ecstatic life, raised 
above themselves, although they are not 
transported above themse ves in prayer. 
There are many Saints in heaven who were 
never in ecstasy or transported in Contempla- 
tion; for how many Martyrs and great Saints, 
both men and women, do we not see in 
history, who never received any favor in 
prayer beyond that of devotion and fervor? 
But there never was a Saint who had not 
had ecstasy and transport of life and work, 
overcoming himself and his natural inclina- 
tions." 2 

St. Alphonsus Liguori says: " Passive union 

1 Lettres, Lettre 10, p. 50. 

2 Amour de Dieu, 1: 7, c. 7, t. 5, p. 31. 



EXTRAORDINARY GRACES 237 

is not necessary in order that a soul should 
attain perfection; it is enough for it to have 
reached active union. . . . Active union is 
perfect conformity of our will with that of 
God, in which consists without the slightest 
doubt all the perfection of the love of God." l 
St. Teresa thus expresses her opinion: 
u There is not a single Christian who cannot, 
with the aid of grace, arrive at true union, 
provided he makes every effort in his power 
to give up his own will in order to attach 
himself to God's will alone. Oh! how many 
there are who say and firmly believe that they 
are in these dispositions As for me, I assure 
you that if they are, they have obtained what 
they might wish for from God. They should 
not trouble about that delicious union of 
which I first spoke. For what is best about 
it is that it springs from the one of which I 
am now talking, and it is even impossible to 
attain the first if one does not possess the 
second: I mean that entire submission of our 
will to that of God. How much to be desired 
is this latter union! How happy the soul 
which possesses it! What rest it will enjoy, 
even in this life! . . . For this union of pure 

1 Homo apostolicus, App. i: 16. 



238 PRACTICE OF MENTAL PRAYER 

conformity with the will of God to exist, it 
is not necessary for the powers to be sus- 
pended. God, Who is All-Powerful, has a 
thousand ways of enriching souls and leading 
them to these dwelling places, without making 
them pass by the shortened road of which I 
have spoken, I mean without raising them to 
that union with Him from which, after a few 
moments, they come out wholly transformed. 
But remark well, my Daughters, that in every 
case this mystic worm must die and that in 
this union of pure conformity to the Divine 
Will, its death must cost you more. Indeed, 
in this supernatural union, where the soul ex- 
periences such great delights in God, the 
happiness which it finds in living a life so 
new greatly helps in bringing about the death 
of this worm; while in the union of conform- 
ity, the soul must kill it itself without passing 
outside its ordinary life. I admit, my 
Daughters, that this latter state is much more 
painful than the former, but the reward will 
be so much the greater if you come out from 
the struggle victorious. And we shall con- 
quer, without the slightest doubt, provided 
our will be truly united to that of God. That 
is the union I have longed for all my life 



EXTRAORDINARY GRACES 239 

and which I have always begged from Our 
Lord/' * 

In another part, the Saint says: " Without 
being contemplative, she (a nun) will not fail 
to be very perfect if she faithfully performs 
what has been said. She can even excel the 
others in merit, because she will have more 
work to do at her own cost. The Divine 
Master, treating her as a valiant soul, will 
add to the joys which He has reserved for 
her in the other life, all the consolations she 
has not enjoyed in this. 2 

11 There is always more safety in humility, 
mortification, detachment and the other vir- 
tues. As there is no danger in this path, 
provided you are faithful in following it, have 
no fears about attaining perfection just as 
well as the greatest contemplatives." 3 

After the Saints, listen to two other writers 
of great authority : 

In his masterly treatise on the Canonization 
of Saints, Benedict XIV gives as a rule to the 
Sacred Congregation of Rites these words of 
Cardinal de Lauria: " We remark that many 

1 Chateau interieur, 5 e demeure, ch. 3, t. 3, pp. 402, 403. 

2 Chemin de la perfection, ch. 18, t. 3, p. 105. 
l^Ibid., p. 107. 



240 PRACTICE OF MENTAL PRAYER 

perfect men are canonized even when there 
has been no mention made in their process of 
infused Contemplation. But proof is always 
brought forward of virtues possessed in a 
heroic degree and of miracles.' ' x 

Alvarez de Paz thus expresses his view: 
11 All the perfect are not raised to perfect 
Contemplation, as I think I have said else- 
where, since Almighty God has other ways of 
making perfect men and Saints. He attracts 
some in a marvellous way by means of afflic- 
tions, sickness, temptations and persecutions. 
He forms others by the labors of an active 
life and the ministry for souls exercised with 
very pure intentions. He leads others to 
great sanctity by means of ordinary prayer 
and mortification in all things. And so it 
happens that one who is favored with great 
gifts of Contemplation finds himself inferior 
to another who has not received them. There 
are perfect men, too, to whom God refuses 
this gift because their temperament is not 
calm enough for Contemplation ... to 
others, so that they may give themselves 
up entirely to the conversion of souls, from 
which extraordinary prayer and ecstasies 

1 Opera omnia, i: 3, c. 26, 8. Prati, 1840, t. 3, p. 297, a 



EXTRAORDINARY GRACES 241 

somewhat deter them; to others, in order to 
humiliate them for fear lest they should 
esteem themselves too highly and lest they 
should become too proud of these brilliant 
gifts; to others, at length, in order to fulfil 
the secret provisions of Holy Providence, 
which it is not given us to know." x 

In conclusion, all spiritual writers, both 
mystic and ascetic, are agreed in affirming 
that Contemplation is a very powerful means 
of attaining perfection, but the preceding evi- 
dence shows that it is not the only one. So, 
then, the souls which have not received the 
gift of Contemplation are not to lose courage 
but to generously enter on the common path 
which has been pointed out to them and be 
assured that they will thus attain sanctity. 

1 (EuvreSy t. 3, 1: 5, deuxi&me partie, c. 4. Moguntiae, 1619, 
p. 1692. 



242 PRACTICE OF MENTAL PRAYER 



CHAPTER II 

CONTEMPLATION REQUIRES A SPECIAL VOCA- 
TION WHICH THE GREATER NUMBER OF 
SOULS WHO MAKE MENTAL PRAYER DO NOT 
POSSESS 

Reason teaches us nothing on this subject, 
nor does Holy Writ. To prove the point, 
then, one must have recourse to the experi- 
ence of the Saints and masters of the spiritual 
life. Let us hear their evidence. 

First of all St. Bernard: " When you have 
had long practice in these virtues, ask that 
the light of devotion may be given you — 
that day of perfect serenity, that sabbath 
when, like a retired soldier, you will live with- 
out toil in the midst of all your labors and 
with gladdened heart, and will run the way 
of God's commandments. From that time 
on you will perform with the utmost delight 
and great pleasure what you formerly did 
under compuls on and with sorrow. . . . But 
unless I am mistaken few reach this perfection 
in this life ; . . . many aspire to it all their 
life long without ever attaining it. . . . Yet 



EXTRAORDINARY GRACES 243 

if they persevere in their pious efforts, as soon 
as they have breathed their last sigh they 
will receive what was wisely refused them 
during this life. Then grace by itself will 
lead them where they formerly strove to go 
by its help and in a short life they will fill the 
course of many years." 1 

St. Lawrence Justinian, whose heavenly 
teaching the Church extols, 2 writes: " Prayer 
is feeble and lifeless without grace, but aided 
by grace it is a great help. . . . Those who 
have deserved to receive the love of prayer 
and inclination to devotion know this. I say 
this because all who pray do not reach an 
elevated prayer. Prayer, indeed, has grades 
by which spiritual men raise themselves, 
become dear to God and approach Him, not 
in body but in spirit." 3 

St. Ignatius of Loyola used to say that the 
methods taught in his Spiritual Exercises 
were suited to the majority of souls who prac- 
tise mental prayer. On the other hand, it is 
certain that all these methods belong to the 
active order. The Saint believed, then, that 

1 Sermo tertius de Circumcisione, circa finem. 

2 Breviary, 5 September. 

8 Tractatus de perfectionis gradibus, c. 12, Opera Basileas, 1560. 



244 PRACTICE OF MENTAL PRAYER 

the greater number of souls who practise 
prayer are called to do so in an active manner. 

St. Alphonsus de Liguori, who was very- 
conversant in the experimental knowledge of 
extraordinary graces, says: " The souls who 
are conducted by God in supernatural ways 
are, according to St. Teresa, very few and 
we shall see many in Heaven who, although 
they have not received these supernatural 
graces, will have higher places than others 
who have received them." x 

The holy Doctor, accordingly, in his book 
entitled The True Spouse of Jesus Christ, 
speaks at length of active mental prayer and 
devotes only a few lines to passive prayer. 

St. Leonard of Port Maurice has written an 
excellent little work entitled : Guide for a nun 
who aspires to perfection. It insists at length 
and with emphasis on active prayer, where 
the three powers of the soul, memory, under- 
standing*and will, are exercised; but he keeps 
an absolute silence on all that concerns pas- 
sive prayer. 2 This reticence on the part of a 
Saint who had learnt by experience the highest 
supernatural paths cannot be explained except 

1 Homo apostolicus, App. I, n. 16. 

2 Guide d'une religieuse, 2 e p., C. 3, Casterman, 1887, p. 107. 



EXTRAORDINARY GRACES 245 

by the conviction he held that the greater 
number of religious women are not called to 
passive prayer. 

Benedict XIV, of whom we have already 
spoken in the preceding chapter, again sum- 
marizes his opinion in these words of Cardinal 
de Lauria: " It is well known that the souls 
raised to Contemplation, especially infused 
Contemplation, are very rare; whilst those 
who devote themselves to Meditation are 
countless." l 

I will conclude with the evidence of Vener- 
able Father Louis Da Ponte, a very experi- 
enced man in these questions. 

He speaks several times in passing of this 
subject, but in the fifteenth chapter of the 
Life of Father Balthasar Alvarez he expressly 
treats of it in these words: " Intimate and 
familiar converse with God and the gift of 
tranquil and perfect Contemplation, such as 
we have described, are so lofty a gift that Fr. 
Balthasar could not have attained it without 
a special vocation from Our Lord, as he him- 
self bears witness in his statement. It is Our 
Lord, indeed, Who calls to this intercourse 
whom He wills, when He wills, and as He 

1 Opera, Prati, 1840, t. 3, p. 297, 8. 



246 PRACTICE OF MENTAL PRAYER 

wills, without there being any place, year or 
fixed time for it. His only rule is His most 
Holy Will. He makes it His delight to hold 
converse with the children of men, but more 
particularly still with some rather than with 
others, by means of a grace and special privi- 
lege which we call vocation. It is an inspira- 
tion, a movement, a powerful affection which 
He stamps upon the soul and by means of 
which He turns it to this lofty form of prayer, 
at the same time giving it the aptitude and 
capacity for it. For all are not called to it, 
all are not fitted for it and it would be rash 
and presumptuous to aspire to it. . . . The 
mass of the faithful who are less enlightened 
or less capable or much taken up with tem- 
poral affairs, are called only to vocal prayer 
and the general and, as it were, far off con- 
sideration of some of the divine mysteries, 
principally those which inspire a holy fear of 
God and awe of His rigorous justice and so 
urge men to give up their sins. 

11 Others of the faithful, represented by the 
Seventy Ancients, are called by God to draw 
nearer to Him by the exercises of mental 
prayer, a deeper meditation on the Divine 
mysteries and more burning affections of love 



EXTRAORDINARY GRACES 247 

and confidence. ... To this class belong 
religious and secular persons who walk the 
ordinary path of mental prayer, a path of 
which the safety, necessity and abundant 
fruits will be proved. . . . But there are 
others, although a small band, who are repre- 
sented by Moses and whom Our Lord in a 
quite special vocation raises to the highest 
degree of prayer and union with His Divine 
Majesty. He makes them enter the heavenly 
darkness and the cloud which blinds the eyes, 
so as to prevent them seeing the things of 
earth, and He opens their eyes that they may 
contemplate their Creator, with Whom they 
hold an intimate and familiar converse which 
is accompanied by great pleasure — to some 
more, to others less, according as He deigns 
to communicate Himself to His creatures/ ■ 1 

An important question remains to be 
settled. Do all souls called to Contempla- 
tion reach its highest point, namely perfect 
Contemplation ? The greater number of these 
souls do not. 

Three causes are generally assigned. 

1 Ven. Fr. Louis Da Ponte, Vie du P. B. Alvarez, ch. 15, Bouix, 
1873, pp. 159, 161 and 162. The virtues of Ven. Louis Da Ponte 
were declared heroic by Clement XIII in 1759. 



248 PRACTICE OF MENTAL PRAYER 

First, absence of vocation. All the souls 
which have received a vocation to the religious 
life are not called to heroism in it. All the 
souls which have received a vocation to Con- 
templation are not called to that which is 
highest in it. " Let us not presume," says 
St. John of the Cross, " to receive these sub- 
lime touches of knowledge and of love before 
we have undergone numerous tribulations and 
supported the greatest burdens of painful 
labor and purification. Yet such a rigorous 
purification is not necessary to attain the 
lower degrees^of perfection, beyond which the 
greater number of souls are not called to 
pass." x 

Next, it is the want of generosity and cor- 
respondence with grace which is the obstacle 
to certain souls: 

" Great is my sorrow/ * says St. Teresa, 
11 when, out of so many souls who to my 
knowledge reach that point (the prayer of 
quiet) and who ought to pass beyond, I see 
so small a number who do, that I am ashamed 
to speak of it. . . . Those who find within 
them such a gift from God may justly look 
upon themselves as God's friends. It only 

1 Nuit obscure, i: 2, ch. 12, t. 3, p. 400. 



EXTRAORDINARY GRACES 249 

remains for them to immolate themselves for 
His sake with the devotion which a noble 
friendship, even in the world, imposes/ ' 1 

Lastly, souls are to be found who make no 
progress because they lack a virtuous, learned 
and experienced Director. These are the in- 
deed remarkable words of St. John of the 
Cross : 

" When God begins to shed this intimate 
unction upon the soul which is the result of 
a loving, sweet, peaceful, retired knowledge, 
far removed from the senses and thoughts 
natural to the human mind, He keeps it in 
this state without allowing it to taste or to 
meditate upon any truth of Heaven or earth, 
because He wholly absorbs it in this precious 
unction which inclines it to solitude and rest. 
Then will come one of those Directors who 
knows only how to give great blows with his 
hammer, like a blacksmith on his anvil, and, 
since he knows no other doctrine, he will 
speak like this: ' Nonsense, move on and give 
up this method; you are losing your time. 
All this is only sloth. Take a subject of 
prayer and meditate upon it. Make acts — 
you must do something of your own and stir 

1 Vie par elle-tnime, ch. 15; t. 1, pp. 160, 161. 



250 PRACTICE OF MENTAL PRAYER 

yourself up. The rest is all an illusion and 
vain amusement/ Since these Directors are 
ignorant of the degrees of prayer and the ways 
of the spirit, they do not see that the acts 
with which they mean to overburden the soul 
have already been made, and that the way 
along which one passes with the help of 
reasoning has been gone over from beginning 
to end. . . . Not understanding that this soul 
has entered upon the life of the spirit, where 
there is no longer reasoning or feeling, where 
God acts upon it in a very intimate manner 
by speaking to its heart in solitude, they add 
to the divine unction, human unction arising 
from ordinary knowledge and common con- 
solations with which they force the soul to 
nourish itself. Thus, they make the soul lose, 
together with solitude and recollection, the 
wonderful painting which God was working 
to perfect in it. Hence the result is that the 
soul does not do what is required of it on the 
one hand, because that has become impossible 
to it, and on the other hand, that it does not 
profit either of what God wanted to do in it." 1 
The greater number of souls called to Con- 
templation, then, do not reach perfect Con- 

1 Viveflamme & amour, Str. 3, vers 3, n. 8; t. 4, pp. 574, 575. 



EXTRAORDINARY GRACES 251 

templation either through their own fault, 
because they do not correspond with grace, 
or, without any fault on their part, because 
they have no vocation or have no Director 
capable of guiding them. 



252 PRACTICE OF MENTAL PRAYER 



CHAPTER III 

BY WHAT SIGNS MAY IT BE RECOGNIZED THAT 
A SOUL IS CALLED TO CONTEMPLATION? 

I omit the extremely rare case where a soul 
is immediately raised to perfect Contempla- 
tion. It is a miracle of grace which we admire 
in Our Lord's Apostles on the day of Pente- 
cost; in a Catherine of Sienna, raised to 
ecstatic union as soon as she was six years 
old; 1 in a St. Francis Xavier 2 and other 
Saints. Such favors fall under no law. I am 
speaking here only of what commonly hap- 
pens. 

The two following signs are necessary in 
order to recognize whether a soul is called to 
Contemplation. 

First, the impossibility of meditating. 
When God wishes to raise a soul to Contem- 
plation which essentially excludes all reason- 
ing, He begins by withdrawing from it the 
possibility of applying itself to the effort of 
meditating. This first sign is not enough, 

1 Bollandists, t. 12, p. 870, n. 29. 2 Breviary, 3 December. 



EXTRAORDINARY GRACES 253 

since the powerlessness may arise from several 
other causes, i 

The first is tepidity, which removes all 
impulse towards spiritual things, especially 
towards Meditation. The second is the usual 
spiritual dryness which makes all that is con- 
nected with prayer very painful. The third 
is a state of ill-health. A tired brain prevents 
reflection and general weakness is incompat- 
ible with real work on the part of the under- 
standing. The fourth is a movement of the 
Holy Ghost which carries the soul to affective 
prayer where the reasoning ceases to exist. 

A second sign is therefore necessarily re- 
quired, one which excludes the four hypotheses 
of tepidity, ordinary spiritual dryness, a trial 
arising from bodily health, and a movement 
of grace towards affections. It consists in a 
simple and loving knowledge of God which 
takes possession of the soul in the midst of a 
profound peace, when it places itself in the 
presence of God. It is not, however, neces- 
sary that this loving attention to God should 
dispel all wandering of spirit; it is enough for 
it to be, as it were, a blessed weight which 
attracts the distracted soul and leads it back 
unceasingly to its Divine Object. 



254 PRACTICE OF MENTAL PRAYER 

" As soon as the soul," says St. John of the 
Cross, " places itself in the presence of God, 
it enters into possession of that profound 
peace where it drinks long draughts of the 
living waters of wisdom and love, without it 
being necessary to bring this water through 
the aqueducts of consideration, figures and 
forms. Thus a man who is urged by a burn- 
ing thirst quenches it without effort on the 
bank of a clear stream. . . . Yet let us not 
forget that even in the midst of this recollec- 
tion the fickleness of the imagination is wont 
to weary the soul in spite of the latter' s will, 
which, far from taking part in the wanderings 
of the former power, experiences a keen suffer- 
ing at seeing its peace and consolation 
troubled/ ' 1 

St. Jane Frances de Chant al says in the 
same sense: " The most certain mark (of 
vocation) is when a soul delights in being 
alone, lovingly attentive to God, yet without 
any special consideration, in interior peace, 
quiet and rest, without the powers, memory, 
understanding and will (at least not for any 
length of time), doing any work by passing 
from any subject to another, thus remaining 

1 Montie du Carmel, i: 2, ch* 14, t. 2, pp. 196, 198. 



EXTRAORDINARY GRACES 255 

attentive and gazing upon God in a general 
and loving manner." * 

I will conclude with another important 
point. As has just been said, no active mental 
prayer, however perfect, can unfailingly lead 
to infused Contemplation. At most, it can 
lead only to the boundary, which cannot be 
crossed unless God grants the free gift of grace, 
which He gives to whom He wills. But at 
least are not supernatural Visions and Speech 
a sure sign of a vocation to Contemplation? 
A young man hears, as did St. Aloysius of 
Gonzaga, an interior voice telling him to enter 
the religious life. Must he conclude that he 
will be raised to Contemplation if he obeys 
this voice? This is not the necessary con- 
clusion. Yet supernatural graces are often 
connected, and one should, while exercising 
discretion, take a divine message of this kind 
into account. 

1 GLuvres, Plon, 1876, t. 3, p. 297. 



256 PRACTICE OF MENTAL PRAYER 



CHAPTER IV 

HOW THE SPIRITUAL EXERCISES OF ST. IGNATIUS 
ARE A PREPARATION FOR INFUSED CONTEM- 
PLATION 

The vocation to infused Contemplation 
has a twofold cause: God's predilection and 
the merits of Jesus Christ, through which all 
graces come to us. To show that this is so, 
God sometimes grants this favor to souls 
which are in no way prepared for it and 
refuses it to those adorned with great virtue. 
Yet Divine Wisdom most often takes into 
account certain dispositions which render a 
soul more fit to profit of the signal grace of 
Contemplation. The purpose of this chapter 
is to examine how far the Exercises of St. 
Ignatius place a soul which applies itself to 
them in the favorable conditions. 

According to St. Bernard, 1 St. Ignatius, 2 
St. John of the Cross, 3 St. Teresa, 4 The Imi- 

1 Sermo 46 in Cant. 

2 St. Ignace, Vie par le P. Bartoli, 1 : 5, ch. 5. 

* Montee du Carmel, 1: 1, ch. 11; Cantiques, str. 29; Vive 
flammed' amour, str. 3. 

4 Chdteau intirieur, 4 e dem,, ch, 2, 



EXTRAORDINARY GRACES 257 

tation of Christ, 1 etc., four things are neces- 
sary to correspond with a contemplative 
vocation: Abnegation, humility, charity and 
calmness of soul in prayer. 

It is easy to prove that these four conditions 
are fully realized in the Exercises. 

i. The Exercises are a continual lesson in 
abnegation. " Let each one think," says St. 
Ignatius, " that he will benefit himself in all 
spiritual things in proportion as he goes out 
of his self-love, will and interest/ ' 2 Such is 
the principle which the Saint develops 
throughout his book, from the beginning to 
the end. 

2. Not only do the Exercises teach humility, 
but they are also penetrated with it as with a 
wholesome oil. Thus it is that in the funda- 
mental meditation on Two Standards, the 
three following degrees which lead to per- 
fection are read on the Standard of Jesus 
Christ: " The first, poverty as opposed to 
riches; the second, insult and contempt as 
opposed to worldly honor; the third, humility 
as opposed to pride. From these three 
degrees men will be led to all other virtues/' 3 

1 Bk. i, ch. ii ; Bk. 4, ch. 31. 

2 Spiritual Exercises, Election, Personal amendment. 
* Ibid., Two Standards, Part 2, Point 3. 



258 PRACTICE OF MENTAL PRAYER 

And again, when speaking of consummate per- 
fection, a passionate love of the cross, St. 
Ignatius calls it the Third Degree of Humility, 
his intention being to make us understand 
that without this virtue the sublime edifice 
would fall to pieces, like a house without 
foundations. 

• And in a more general way, whoever studies 
the book of the Exercises, easily recognizes that 
St. Ignatius has there spoken out of the abund- 
ance of a heart deeply attached to humility, 
and he thus preluded the wonderful doctrine 
which he came from the heights of Heaven to 
teach to St. Mary Magdalen de Pazzi. " I, 
Ignatius, have been chosen by the Mother of 
your Spouse to instruct you on humility. So 
hear my words. Humility ought to be poured 
into the hearts of novices like oil into a lamp. 
And just as the oil fills the whole lamp, so all 
the powers of their souls must be filled with 
humility. Again, just as a lamp cannot give 
light without oil, so the novices cannot shed 
upon the monastery the brightness of per- 
fection and sanctity if care is not taken to 
bring them to know themselves and to con- 
stantly train and test them in humility. 
They must be taught, then, how indispensable 



EXTRAORDINARY GRACES 259 

to a true nun is this virtue, which is nothing 
but the unbroken consciousness of their 
nothingness and a perpetual joy in all that 
can inspire them with a sincere contempt for 
themselves, until all the powers of their soul 
are perfectly regulated." 1 

3. No meditation book is superior to the 
Exercises in arousing in the heart an ardent 
charity. As soon as the soul has cleansed 
itself of its sins and evil inclinations, every- 
thing in the Contemplations is arranged so as 
to produce a love of God, generous even to 
making a total offering of self, pure even to 
forgetting self-interest so as to think only of 
God's, ardent even to desiring what is most 
contrary to nature, persevering even to the 
last sigh. I do not need to prove this; it has 
already been done in the work on Ordinary 
Prayer. 2 

4. The methods of prayer in the Exercises 
establish the soul in calmness, peace, rest of 
mind, as far as human weakness assisted by 
ordinary grace allows. This too I have pre- 
viously shown. 3 

1 Vie de sainte Madeleine de Pazzi, par le P. Cepari, ch. II. 

2 Ordinary Prayer, Part 5, ch. 1, 2. 
8 Ibid., ch, 1, 3, 



260 PRACTICE OF MENTAL PRAYER 

In conclusion: Let the souls to whom God 
has granted the grace of an attraction to the 
Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius trust them- 
selves to its spirit and methods without fear. 
If these souls are called to infused Contem- 
plation, they will here find a sure and easy- 
means of fully corresponding with their sub- 
lime vocation. If the contrary supposition 
is true, the Exercises will lead them far on 
the road of solid virtue and true sanctity. 



EXTRAORDINARY GRACES 261 



CHAPTER V 

TO WHAT EXTENT MAY EXTRAORDINARY 
GRACES BE DESIRED? 

If it is a question of distinct supernatural 
graces, such as Visions and Speech, they are 
not to be desired. This is fully evident from 
the second chapter of Part IV. If, on the 
contrary, it is a question of confused and gen- 
eral graces accompanied by admiration and 
love, in a word, of the graces of Contempla- 
tion, the answer is different according to cases. 

If God has shown by sure signs that a soul 
has already received the quite free grace of 
passive prayer, it may desire and ask in 
prayer to make progress in this. Yet this 
desire must be accompanied by humility and 
detachment. By humility, so that the soul 
shall esteem itself unworthy of this favor; 
by detachment, so that it may desire the grace 
only so as to better sanctify itself and return 
more glory to God. This is the universal 
counsel. 

Thus St. Ignatius wrote to St. Francis 
Borgia, who had already been raised to the 



262 PRACTICE OF MENTAL PRAYER 

prayer of Contemplation: " I do not mean by 
that, that we should seek for them (super- 
natural gifts) solely for the satisfaction or 
pleasure we find in them. No indeed. But 
recognizing within us that without these gifts 
all our thoughts, words and works are con- 
fused, cold and troubled, we should desire 
these gifts so that by their means these 
thoughts, words and works may become fer- 
vent, clear and righteous to God's greater 
service. From this it results that we ought 
to wish for these precious gifts, wholly or in 
part, and these spiritual graces, as far as with 
their assistance we shall be able to procure 
greater glory for God." l 

If, on the contrary, no grace of passive 
prayer at all has been received, we say with 
St. Alphonsus de Liguori that it is surer not 
to have the slightest desire for supernatural 
graces in prayer and to aspire only at attain- 
ing sanctity by the usual way. Here are his 
words: " Graces which cut us off from faith 
are to be rejected with all one's strength, since 
they consist in certain distinct knowledge, as 
do Visions and revelations. Those which are 
consistent with faith, on the contrary, should 

1 Lettres, Lettre 58, pp. 269, 270. 



EXTRAORDINARY GRACES 263 

not be rejected, such as confused and general 
knowledge and divine touches which unite the 
soul to God. Nay more, the soul may humbly 
ask for and desire them, with the object of 
uniting itself more and more to God and of 
strengthening itself in His holy Love. Yet 
this is meant for souls who already receive 
like favors, since for the others the surest way 
is to desire and beg for only the active union 
which is, as has already been said, the union 
of our will with God's." x 

This is a very wise doctrine, for generally, 
when the heart is elsewhere, there remains no 
desire of perfecting oneself in one's state. 
Consequently, when a soul which is being led 
by ordinary prayer aspires to Contemplation, 
it has no longer either attraction or courage to 
sanctify itself in its own way, which is Medi- 
tation. 

That is the first and very grave reason. 
There are others, which St. Teresa explains 
in these terms: " I have not the slightest 
doubt, my Daughters, that you long to soon 
see yourselves in this state, and you are right. 
For, I repeat, the soul cannot understand 
either the graces with which God then favors 

1 Homo apostolicus, App. i , n. 23. 



264 PRACTICE OF MENTAL PRAYER 

it or the love with which He draws it to Him. 
It is, then, right for you to desire to learn how 
one attains a similar happiness. I will tell 
you what I know about it, though speaking 
only of God's usual manner of procedure and 
leaving on one side the extraordinary cases 
where He grants this grace only because He 
so wills it. When it is a question of this kind, 
He has His own reasons, which it is not our 
place to seek to examine. 

"First, my Daughters, practise what I 
recommended in the preceding dwellings ; and 
then humility, since it is by this virtue that 
Our Lord allows Himself to be overcome and 
yields to all our desires. The first mark by 
which you may recognize whether you have 
this virtue, is the belief of your unworthiness 
to receive so eminent a favor as that of enjoy- 
ing God, and not even thinking that it ought 
ever to be granted to you in this life. But, 
you will say, how can we obtain these graces 
if we make no effort to that end? 

" My answer is that there is no better means 
than that which I have just pointed out, and 
that of refraining from all effort, and this for 
five reasons. The first, because what is above 
all necessary in order to receive a similar 



EXTRAORDINARY GRACES 265 

favor, is a disinterested love of God. The 
second, because it is want of humility to 
flatter oneself that a thing of so great value can 
be obtained by such wretched services as ours. 
The third, because the true preparation for 
the reception of such favors, after having 
offended God, is not to long for consolations, 
but to imitate Our Lord in desiring to suffer 
for Him as He has suffered for us. The 
fourth, because God is net obliged to give us 
these graces in this world, without which we 
can save our souls, as He is obliged to give us 
His glory in the other, if we keep His com- 
mandments. Besides, He knows better than 
we what is best for us and which are the souls 
that have a true love for Him. That it is so, 
we are not allowed to doubt. I myself know 
people who, while traversing this path of love, 
that is, aspiring solely to serve their crucified 
Jesus, not only do not desire or ask Him for 
these consolations and pleasures, but beg of 
Him not to give them to them in this life. 
What I say is indeed a fact. The fifth reason is 
that we should be wasting time in seeking these 
pleasures. This water, like that of content- 
ment, does not come by means of aqueducts. 
If God, who is their source, does not make 



266 PRACTICE OF MENTAL PRAYER 

them gush forth, we should be tiring ourselves 
to no purpose. All our desires, all our medi- 
tations, all our tears and all the efforts which 
we can make for this are useless. God alone 
gives this heavenly water to him whom He 
wills. He not seldom gives it only when one 
is thinking least about it. We belong to Him, 
my Sisters; let Him dispose of us according 
to His will and lead us as shall be pleasing to 

Him." * 

Nothing more in conformity with the Gospel 
and nothing more discreet could be said. 
Contemplation is the beginning of eternal 
beatitude and is consequently a great pro- 
motion for the soul which is introduced to it. 
The best disposition, then, in attaining it, 
if God calls, is humility, according to Our 
Divine Master's teaching: " Every one that 
exalteth himself, shall be humbled; and he 
that humbleth himself, shall be exalted.' ' 2 

But in what does this true humility con- 
sist? Here is Our Lord's answer: " When 
thou art invited to a wedding, sit not down 
in the first place, lest perhaps one more honor- 

1 Chateau interieur, 4 e demeure, ch. 2, towards the end; t. 3, 

PP- 363> 364- 

2 Luke 14: 11. 



EXTRAORDINARY GRACES 267 

able than thou is invited by him ; and he that 
invited thee and him, come and say to thee, 
Give this man place: and then thou begin 
with shame to take the lowest place. But 
when thou art invited, go, sit down in the 
lowest place: that when he who invited thee 
cometh, he may say to thee: l Friend, go up 
higher/ Then shalt thou have glory before 
them that sit at table with thee." x 

To pass from the parable to the reality, the 
banquet is mental prayer, where the soul is 
nourished with heavenly food and where there 
are two kinds of places, Meditation and Con- 
templation. The surest means of arriving 
at the more distinguished place of Contempla- 
tion is to remain in the more humble one of 
Meditation until the Master, who is God, 
says: " Go up higher." 

We read again in the Holy Gospel that 
James and John, the beloved disciples of Our 
Saviour, went up to Him and asked to be 
seated one on the right and one on the left of 
Him in His glory. And Jesus answered them : 
11 You know not what you ask. Can you 
drink of the chalice that I drink of, or be bap- 
tized with the baptism wherewith I am bap- 

1 Luke 14: 8, etc. 



268 PRACTICE OF MENTAL PRAYER 

tized? But they said to Him: We can. And 
Jesus saith to them: You shall indeed drink 
of the chalice that I drink of: and with the 
baptism wherewith I am baptized, you shall 
be baptized. But to sit on My right hand, 
or My left, is not Mine to give to you, but to 
them for whom it is prepared/ ' l 

Alas, how many souls who earnestly desire 
and ask for Contemplation without having 
real signs of vocation fall into the same mis- 
take as the sons of Zebedee! They deserve 
the lesson which Our Lord gave these dear 
disciples: " You know not what you ask. 
Can you drink of the chalice that I drink of; 
or be baptized with the baptism wherewith I 
am baptized? " 

Lastly, even when Contemplation, a per- 
fectly free gift, has been long desired and 
prayed for, it often happens that it is not 
attained; from which results a disastrous de- 
ception in the spiritual life. What a trial for 
a soul! Its prayers, its efforts in the practice 
of virtue and sacrifices of every kind were 
intended for years to raise it up to the delight- 
ful source of Contemplation, so that it might 
there drink the waters of a heavenly joy. 

1 Mark 10: 35-40. 



EXTRAORDINARY GRACES 269 

But the source always remains distant and it 
has never been able to slake its thirst at it. 
Sadness, discouragement and bitterness over- 
whelm it, a great obstacle to progress in vir- 
tue, according to the word of the Holy Ghost : 
u Sadness hath killed many, and there is no 
profit in it." l 

It must be admitted that an indifference 
so great that one does not desire Contempla- 
tion more than Meditation, because one is 
seeking in prayer only God's good pleasure, 
is enough to avert these dangers; but such 
perfect virtue is very rare. If, then, there are 
no certain signs of vocation to Contemplation 
it is surer to aspire to holiness only by the 
usual path of Meditation. 

1 Ecclus. 30: 25. 



270 PRACTICE OF MENTAL PRAYER 



CHAPTER VI 

TO WHAT EXTENT IS THE READING OF BOOKS 
TREATING OF EXTRAORDINARY STATES TO 
BE ALLOWED TO PIOUS SOULS? 

Reading of this kind is neither to be coun- 
selled nor permitted to all pious souls indis- 
criminately. 

A first unhappy result would be the stirring 
up in several of them the imprudent desire for 
extraordinary graces, a desire which would 
inevitably be accompanied by the serious 
drawbacks which have just been pointed out. 1 

A second, and still more lamentable result, 
would be to persuade souls who are given to 
self -analysis, that they have the character- 
istics of a true vocation to extraordinary 
paths, which in reality they have not. A 
dangerous error and one difficult to dispel. 
St. Francis of Sales knew such illusions well: 

" With regard to the danger there is in 
wanting to know so many ways of attaining 
perfection/ - he says, " I remember having 
spoken to two nuns belonging to two well 

1 See the preceding chapter. 



EXTRAORDINARY GRACES 271 

reformed orders, one of whom by dint of hav- 
ing read Blessed Teresa's books, learnt so 
well to speak like her that she seemed to be a 
little Mother Teresa. And she herself be- 
lieved it, picturing to herself so vividly all 
that Mother Saint Teresa had done during 
her life, that she believed that she herself did 
quite the same, even going so far as to have 
bindings of mind and suspension of its powers, 
just as she read that the Saint had had; so 
that she spoke of them very well. There are 
others who, by dint of thinking of the life of 
St. Catherine of Sienna and St. Catherine of 
Genoa, think that they are St. Catherines by 
imitation." * Opposition must be made to 
such evils from the beginning. 

All exaggeration, however, must be avoided. 
If it is a case of humble, wise and prudent 
souls who esteem solid virtue above all else, 
nothing stands in the way of their being 
allowed or even advised to make reading of 
this kind. It would be both too severe and 
really not wise to forbid them to read this 
kind of books, whether they have already been 
called to extraordinary paths, or whether, 
having been led by the usual road, they simply 

1 Vrais entretiens spirituals, (f entr., t. 6, pp. 139, 140. 



272 PRACTICE OF MENTAL PRAYER 

possess the desire of raising their heart to 
heavenly thoughts. 

Experience teaches this: Souls who, after 
having obtained advice, read with a pure in- 
tention these books burning with love of God, 
find in them disdain for the world, and ardent 
love of God and an insatiable desire of working 
and suffering much for His glory. These are 
signal advantages of which souls ought not to 
be lightly deprived. 

But in order to obtain this blessed result, the 
mystic writings must in the first place be sure 
in doctrine, otherwise the words of the Gospel 
will be seen to be realized: " if the blind lead 
the blind, both fall into the pit." x In the 
second place, they must be especially calcu- 
lated to increase Divine love in the soul, with 
all its accompanying virtues. Such are the 
works of St. Bernard, St. Bona venture, St. 
John of the Cross, St. Francis of Sales, St. 
Alphonsus Rodriguez, St. Alphonsus Liguori, 
St. Teresa, St. Catherine of Sienna, St. Ger- 
trude, St. Catherine of Genoa, Blessed Angela 
of Foligno, Blessed Margaret Mary and other 
writers, whose secure teaching raises the soul 
to heavenly thoughts, makes it love God more 

1 Matth. 15: 14. 



EXTRAORDINARY GRACES 273 

and inspires it with a burning zeal to work 
for His glory. 

Finally, this reading, however excellent it 
may be, cannot dispense with the advice of a 
virtuous, learned, prudent and experienced 
Director. 



274 PRACTICE OF MENTAL PRAYER 



CHAPTER VII 

WHAT IS TO BE THE CONDUCT OF A SOUL 
RAISED TO CONTEMPLATION WHEN MAKING 
A PRIVATE RETREAT? 

It is evident that this soul should follow the 
attraction of grace both as to the choice of 
subject and method of prayer. The guidance 
of the Holy Ghost, Who communicates Him- 
self in a very special manner to it, must always 
be respected, without prejudice, however, to 
the control of a learned and prudent Director. 
Yet except a quite special and contrary attrac- 
tion be felt, we believe that this soul will gain 
by taking a book of serious retreat, such as the 
Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius. St. Fran- 
cis of Sales praises them in the following 
words : " It is a holy method well-known to the 
early Christians, but since then almost en- 
tirely discarded, until that great servant of 
God, Ignatius of Loyola, brought it into use 
again/ ' x St. Charles Borromeo used to say 
of these Exercises: " They are my whole 

1 Traite de V amour de Dieu, 1 : 12, ch. 8. 



EXTRAORDINARY GRACES 275 

library/ ' l St. Leonard of Port Maurice of 
the Order of Friars Minor, esteemed them so 
highly that he composed a whole book of com- 
mentaries upon them. 2 

It is very easy to justify the advice just 
given. In the first place, every contemplative 
soul should, during its retreat, purify itself 
from the stains of sins and imperfections accu- 
mulated during the year. It should, in 
addition, fill itself with the spirit of the Gospel, 
so entirely opposed to that of the world. And 
lastly, it must apply itself more and more to 
the knowledge and love of Jesus Christ Our 
Lord, from Whom all grace comes to us. In 
all these ends the book of the Exercises cannot 
fail to be of great use to it, at least for the 
reading and considerations which it is well to 
make during a retreat. 

And then this privileged soul does not know 
what measure of this entirely free grace of 
Contemplation it will receive during prayer, 
and is rashly exposing itself to the danger of 
being invaded by distractions if it has pre- 
pared no subject. 

St. Teresa had received the grace of Con- 

1 Bollandists, t. 34, p. 798, 94. 

* CEuvres de saint Leonard, Casterman, 1886. 



276 PRACTICE OF MENTAL PRAYER 

templation, and yet St. Francis Borgia ad- 
vised her to begin to pray by applying her 
mind to a mystery of the Passion, and if after- 
wards Our Lord raised her to a supernatural 
state without any effort on her own part, she 
should give herself up to His guidance. 1 St. 
Jane Frances de Chant al, who was raised to 
Contemplation, nevertheless prepared her 
points of prayer during her yearly retreats. 
We read this in her order of the day: " In the 
morning as soon as I am dressed and have 
read my points of prayer, I make it. . . . 
When the bell for office rings and I am not 
going, I say it in a low voice, then I read my 
second point of prayer. . . . After Vespers I 
read a little and prepare my subject of 
prayer." 2 

This humble way of acting, in short, is 
quite in harmony with Our Divine Master's 
teaching: in order to deserve being raised to 
the first place, we must begin by taking the 
last. It is, too, richly blessed by God, as 
experience proves. When a simple, humble, 
contemplative soul prepares from a solid book 
the points of the Annunciation, the Nativity, 

1 Vie par elle-meme, ch. 24; t. 1, p. 278. 

2 (Euvres de saint Chantal, Ed. Plon, t. 2, pp. 68, 69. 



EXTRAORDINARY GRACES 277 

the Hidden Life, the Crucifixion and other 
subjects, it not rarely happens that God, 
Who exalts the humble, copiously pours upon 
its intellect and heart the living waters of 
wisdom and love, throwing sublime light on 
all these mysteries. These the soul would 
not have received had it neglected to prepare 
the points. Contemplative souls, however, 
must not, in the preparation and especially 
in the making of the meditation, be tied down 
to the same methods as souls led by the usual 
path. These souls, who are most often 
raised to Supernatural Recollection, cannot 
consider a mystery as is. done in Meditation, 
and the action of the Holy Ghost must be 
fully respected. Even suppose that all super- 
natural grace has been taken from them as a 
trial, these souls should be allowed to follow 
their individual attraction which leads them 
to meditate in a more peaceful and affec- 
tionate way. 1 

But above all, if at the very moment these 
souls place themselves in the presence of God, 
they feel a delightful peace take possession of 
them, if they drink long draughts of the living 
waters of wisdom and love in a simple and 

1 See Part 2, ch. 2. 



278 PRACTICE OF MENTAL PRAYER 

loving gaze upon God, they should obey the 
Divine call and without fear give up the sub- 
ject prepared. One must not, it is true, take 
a higher place of one's own accord, for that 
would be pride. But it would be equally 
strange and foolish not to comply with the 
Master's gentle invitation at the banquet: 
" Friend, go up higher." * 

This must be the conduct of the contem- 
plative soul when God invites it to imperfect 
Contemplation, and with much more reason, 
when it feels called to perfect Contemplation 
and ;the wounds of love. These words of the 
Divine Spouse are addressed to those who 
direct such souls: u I adjure you, O daugh- 
ters of Jerusalem, by the roes and harts of 
±he fields, that you stir not up, nor awake 
my beloved, till she please." 2 

11 There are Directors," says St. John of the 
Cross, " who disturb the repose of calm and 
peaceful Contemplation, in which God places 
these souls and where they aspire to dwell. 
They force them to meditate, to reason out 
and produce acts, in spite of the dislike, 
repugnance, dryness and distractions they 
find in so doing. . . . Now, since these souls 

L Luke 14: 10. * Cant. 3: 5. 



EXTRAORDINARY GRACES 279 

can no longer do this nor devote themselves 
to the exercises of the past, because the time 
is over for them and it is no longer their 
method, they are a prey to a twofold anguish, 
believing they are rushing to destruction. 
Their guides only confirm this distressing 
thought, throwing them into dryness and 
making them lose the precious unctions they 
received from God in solitude and prayer — 
an immense misfortune. Instead of this 
gentle rest in God, only a little sadness is left 
to them and a life dragged out in following 
the most usual paths, so that these poor souls 
experience on the one hand an irreparable 
loss, and on the other, fatigue themselves in 
vain. These men know very little of the 
spiritual life. They are strangely wanting in 
the supreme respect due to Our Saviour, 
and they wrong Him, in daring to inter- 
fere with His Divine work by their clumsy 
methods.' ' x 

This does not mean, however, that such souls 
can dispense with a Director, Contemplative 
souls who make private retreats, have posi- 
tive need of a capable guide, or at least of 
having their method of prayer previously 

1 Viveflamme oV 'amour ; Strophe 3, n. n, t. 4, pp. 585, 586. 



280 PRACTICE OF MENTAL PRAYER 

receive the approval of a man conversant 
with supernatural ways. They otherwise 
run the risk of falling into serious illu- 
sions. 



EXTRAORDINARY GRACES 281 



CHAPTER VIII 

WHAT SHARE SHOULD RELIGIOUS RAISED TO 
CONTEMPLATION TAKE IN GENERAL RE- 
TREATS? 

It is a mistake to believe that contemplative 
souls cannot profit of the points of a retreat 
given to the community, because God instructs 
them better in Contemplation in a single day 
than the best books in many weeks. These 
souls indeed need to be more penetrated by 
the pure spirit of the Gospel in proportion as 
they are favored by higher graces. Now, it 
is in the order of Providence that the spirit of 
Jesus Christ Our Lord should fully enter a 
soul only by means of human instruction. 
Thus has the Eternal Wisdom ordained. The 
Gospel has been spread throughout the world 
not by the interior action of the Holy Ghost 
alone, but by the preaching of Apostles, and 
the infallible interpretation of the revealed 
doctrine is not reserved to the great contem- 
platives but to the dogmatic teaching of the 
Sovereign Pontiff and of the Councils. 



282 PRACTICE OF MENTAL PRAYER 

A second advantage of general retreats is 
the lavish graces bestowed when a number of 
hearts unite in prayer. " If two of you," says 
Our Lord, " shall consent upon earth concern- 
ing any thing whatsoever they shall ask, it 
shall be done to them by My Father Who is 
in Heaven. For where there are two or three 
gathered together in My name, there I am in 
the midst of them." x 

The prayer of the Apostles in the Cenacle 
with the holy women and Mary the Mother 
of Jesus was answered by the greatest streams 
of wisdom and grace that have ever existed. 2 
The Cenacle transforming contemplative souls 
is sometimes the general retreat. In any case, 
they will always find there abundant light and 
burning love. 

Let it be enough for me to cite the authority 
of St. Mary Magdalen de Pazzi in support of 
this. In her convent of Florence, several of 
the nuns were led by the path of Contempla- 
tion and yet, says her biographer, " She under- 
stood the aim and method of the Spiritual 
Exercises of St. Ignatius so well, that from that 
time until the end of her life it was she who 
gave them to her Sisters, teaching them 

x Matth. 18: 19, 20. * Acts 1: 14. 



EXTRAORDINARY GRACES 283 

exactly how to put into practice the lights and 
inspirations which God communicated to 
them by this precious means. To this is due 
the custom which this venerable convent has 
maintained of making the Spiritual Exercises 
every year; which contribute more and more 
to perfecting the nuns in the spirit and prac- 
tice of holy prayer/ ' x 

Yet contemplative souls must not be re- 
quired to meditate in the same way as others 
on the points heard read. Each thing in its 
place. They doubtless need to be instructed 
in the duties of the religious life and conse- 
quently should listen to public instruction 
humbly, attentively and with a sincere desire 
to learn. But once the points are finished, 
God reserves it to Himself to speak to the 
contemplative soul without the medium of a 
human voice. Let the Creator, then, be 
allowed to treat with the creature, the Father 
with His son, the Spouse with His betrothed. 

In conclusion, the general retreat has indis- 
putable advantages for Religious raised to 
Contemplation. It is best, therefore, for 
them not to exempt themselves from it, unless 
for grave reasons, such as the duties of their 

1 Vie, par le P. C6pari, ch. 24. 



284 PRACTICE OF MENTAL PRAYER 

office, an attraction so powerful that it appears 
clearly the expression of the Divine Will, etc. 
The soul should then follow the path pointed 
out and make a private retreat. 



INDEX 



PAGE 

Affective prayer and supernatural recollection, difference 

between 23 

special grace of prayer, part played by supernatural 

recollection in 25 

Angelic speech, imperfect contemplation the beginning of. . . 65 

Angels, perfect contemplation makes one the rival of 65 

Beatitude, contemplation the beginning of everlasting 50 

Brotherly love, God's love won by 161 

By experience the soul through contemplation learns to know 

God 35 

Characteristic of contemplation, first 26 

Characteristics of prayer of quiet 68 

— of simple union 76 

Christian perfection, contemplation a powerful means of 

attaining 241 

— • — contemplation not the only means of attaining 235 

three degrees of 187 

Comparing the soul's smallness with God's infinite great- 
ness 119 

Conclusions regarding teaching and preaching 191 

Conduct of a soul raised to contemplation when making a 

private retreat 274 

Consummate union, nothing exceeds the perfection ob- 
tained in 112 

Consummated union and contemplation, difference between. 94 

or spiritual marriage 94 

285 



286 INDEX 

PAGE 

Contemplation, active mental prayer does not always lead 

to infused 255 

— a form of mental prayer 15 

— and eternal happiness, different characteristics of ...... . 52 

— and consummated union, difference between 94 

— and meditation, St. Frances of Sales' comparison of 43 

— a powerful means of attaining Christian perfection 241 

— a simple and prolonged gaze upon God 33 

— a simple intuition of truth. 31 

— definition of 55, 58 

— difference between infused and active 58 

— distinguished from supernatural recollection 49 

— do all souls called to, reach its highest point? 247 

— end God has in view in raising a soul to perfect 187 

— extraordinary prayer called, because truth is known by 

intuition 15 

— faith a heritage to souls called to 27 

— fifth characteristic of 46 

— first characteristic of 26 

— fourth characteristic of 42 

— grace of, a foregift from Divine Goodness 127 

— knowledge of God important in study of 36 

— knowledge of God in 53 

— love a simple and prolonged act in 53 

— not the only means of attaining Christian perfection .... 235 

— perfect and imperfect 62 

— preeminence of, over meditation 32 

— requires a special vocation 242 

— second characteristic of 31 

— secret for making rapid progress in 163 

— signs by which it may be known a soul is called to 252 

— sixth characteristic of 50 

— soul called to, must study and practice the solid virtues. 157 

— suspension of the powers a characteristic of 49 

— the beginning of eternal beatitude 266 

— the beginning of everlasting beatitude 50 

— the soul's powers completely suspended in perfect 62 



INDEX 287 

PAGE 

Contemplation, the soul's powers not completely suspended 

in imperfect 62 

— third characteristic of 35 

— two degrees of perfect 76 

— way to the great ecstacies of 164 

— why it is not always attained 268 

Contemplative soul must labor to acquire humility 158 

during retreat, should be purified from the stains of 

sin 275 

must avoid self-complacencies 171 

— vocation, four conditions necessary for a 257 

Contemplatives, a degree God grants to privileged souls. . . 27 

Court of Heaven, God's omnipotence in 86 

Creator, soul consumed with love in an undefined view of 

its 21 

Definition of contemplation 55 

Devil, temptations of the, last for years 132 

Difference between ecstatic union and simple union 82 

Divine Goodness, grace of contemplation a foregift from. . . 127 

— vision not always continuous in ecstacy 85 

Dryness in ecstatic union, souls not exempt from 9.1 

Duration of time Of imperfect contemplation 67 

— ■ — of perfect contemplation 67 

Earthly purgatory, another form of 143 

Ecstacy, divine vision not always continuous in 85 

— exposed to illusions 89 

— true and false, time of 90 

Ecstatic union and simple union 76 

and simple union, difference between 82 

souls not exempt from dryness in . . 91 

Eternal beatitude, contemplation the beginning of 266 

joy of 54 

— _ — love in 53 

peace of * 54 

vision of , , t , , ,,,,,,, f , , 53 



288 INDEX 

PAGE 

Eternal happiness and contemplation, different character- 
istics of 52 

Extraordinary and ordinary prayer 13 

— graces, to what extent may they be desired? 261 

— ■ prayer called contemplation, because truth is known by 

intuition 15 

made by a special grace which God grants to few. ... 13 

supernatural recollection a part of 18 

— states, reading books about, not permitted to all pious 

souls 270 

Faith a heritage to souls called to contemplation 27 

— elevation of, due to the gift of wisdom 26 

— perfected in wisdom 29 

— St. John's description of 28 

Fervor of devotion, reason must regulate 74 

First degree of imperfect contemplation 68 

Five spiritual senses, St. Teresa describes 38 

God allows the devil to tempt souls who have received con- 
templation, reasons why. . , 131 

— a simple and loving gaze upon 55 

— contemplation a simple and prolonged gaze upon 33 

— discloses His sovereign greatness in an extraordinary way. 141 

— feeling of having been abandoned by 117 

— knowledge of, important in study of contemplation 36 

— knowledge of, in contemplation 53 

— St. Teresa teaches how the 1 will is suspended and sunk 

in 47 

— the soul by experience through contemplation learns to 

know 35 

— the soul learns to love 56 

— to enjoy favors from, obedience must be joined to 

humility 160 

God's abandonment, suffering caused by, how felt 122 

— five ways of speaking supernaturally to souls 217 

— infinite greatness, comparing the soul's smallness with 119 



INDEX 289 

PAGE 

God's love won by brotherly love 161 

— omnipotence in the court of Heaven 86 

— works the object of infused contemplation 107 

Grace of supernatural recollection 24 

Holy Eucharist, souls called to contemplation must have a 

special devotion to 181 

Humility, contemplative soul must labor to acquire 158 

Illusions, ecstasy exposed to 89 

— St. Ignatius' rule for avoiding 226 

Imperfect contemplation, duration of time of 67 

first degree of 68 

second degree of 73 

the beginning of angelic speech 65 

the soul's powers not completely suspended in 62 

Infused contemplation, God's works the object of 107 

St. Ignatius' spiritual exercises a preparation for 256 

" Interior pain," various names for 124 

Jesus Christ crucified, souls called to contemplation must 

seek intimate union with 172 

Joy of eternal beatitude 54 

Knowledge gained by the spiritual senses never replaces 

faith ....'. 41 

Love a simple and prolonged act in contemplation 53 

— in eternal beatitude 53 

— spiritual intoxication a fervent devotion of 73 

Martyrdom endured by St. Teresa 30 

Meditation and contemplation, St. Teresa explains 42 

— ordinary prayer called, because truth is sought by reason- 

ing and reflection 15 

— preeminence of contemplation over 32 



290 INDEX 



PAGE 



Mental prayer, active, does not always lead to infused con- 
templation 255 

contemplation a form of 15 

two kinds of 13 

Ordinary and extraordinary prayer 13 

— prayer, called meditation, because truth is sought by 

reasoning and reflection 15 

■ made by the help of grace which God refuses to none 13 

Our Lord's life and the words of Scripture, learning to know no 

Peace of eternal beatitude 54 

Perfect and imperfect contemplation 62 

— contemplation, duration of time of 67 

makes one the rival of angels 65 

second degree of 82 

— ■ — the soul's powers completely suspended in 62 

two degrees of 76 

Powers, suspension of the, a characteristic of contemplation. 49 
Prayer, affective, special grace of prayer, part played by 

supernatural recollection in 25 

— difference in liberty of soul's powers 60 

— difference of light in intellect and warmth in will 59 

— difference of preparation in 60 

— difference of simplicity in 59 

— difference of work in 58 

— extraordinary, made by a special grace which God grants 

to few 13 

— of quiet 68 

characteristics of 68 

St. Frances de Chantal's remarks about 70 

— ordinary and extraordinary 13 

made by the help of grace which God refuses to none. 13 

— principle which governs 21 

— St. Teresa's account of her state of 37 

— supernatural recollection the usual method of 80 

— two kinds of mental 13 



INDEX 291 

PAGE 

Prayers, saints who have made the church illustrious with 

their 175 

Principle which governs prayer 21 

Purgatory, holy souls in, desire perfect union with God. . . 146 

— St. Catherine of Gdnba describes her earthly 145 

Reason must regulate the fervor of devotion 74 

Religious raised to contemplation, share taken in general 

retreat 281 

Retreat, conduct of a soul raised to contemplation when 

making a private 274 

— contemplative souls during, should be purified from the 

stains of sin 275 

— share taken in general, religious raised to contemplation. 281 

Saints who have made the church illustrious by their 

prayers 175 

Second degree of perfect contemplation 82 

Simple union and ecstatic union 76 

— difference between 82 

— — characteristics of 76 

or spiritual betrothal 82 

Sins, penetrating sight of one's 117 

Soul consumed with love in an undefined view of its Creator. 2 1 

— in purgatory, suffering of a holy 144 

— powers of the, suspended by admiration and love 46 

— the, enjoys a beginning of eternal beatitude 57 

— the, enjoys profound peace 57 

— the, learns to love God 56 

— the, suspended by the admiration and love it feels 56 

— the, through contemplation learns to know God by 

experience 35 

Soul's advancement, spiritual exercises the best for 236 

" Soul's Dark Night," a few words on the 148 

Souls called to contemplation must have a special devotion 

to the Holy Eucharist 181 



292 INDEX 

PAGE 

Souls called to contemplation must seek intimate union 

with Jesus Christ crucified 172 

must shun attachments to creatures 167 

— reach Heaven after purification in purgatory 139 

— tormented by temptation must trust in Divine Provi- 

dence 138 

Spiritual aridity 127 

— betrothal or simple union 82 

— dryness, times of 81 

— exercises the best for soul's advancement 236 

— food, depriving the soul of 21 

— intoxication 68, 73 

a fervent devotion of love 73 

— marriage or consummated union 94 

state of 100 

— senses, description of the, by St. John of the Cross 38 

difference between ordinary and extraordinary use of. 41 

Spiritual senses, knowledge gained by, never replaces faith. 41 

St. Catherine of Genoa describes her earthly purgatory. ... 145 

St. Frances de Chantal's remarks about prayer of quiet ... 70 
St. Francis of Sales' comparison of contemplation and 

meditation 43 

St. Ignatius' rule for avoiding illusions 226 

— spiritual exercises a preparation for infused contempla- 

tion 256 

St. John of the Cross, description of the spiritual senses by 38 

St. John's description of faith 28 

St. Teresa describes the five spiritual senses 38 

— explains meditation and contemplation. 42 

— martyrdom endured by 30 

— teaches how the will is suspended and sunk in God 47 

St. Teresa's account of her state of prayer 37 

— advice to her religious 166 

Suffering of a holy soul in purgatory 144 

Supernatural graces, doubting the truth of 136 

— recollection and affective prayer, difference between 23 

a part of extraordinary prayer 18 



INDEX 293 



PAGB 

Supernatural graces, contemplation distinguished from 49 

— grace of affective prayer, acts of the affections essence 

of 24 

in affective prayer, special grace of prayer, part 

played by 25 

the usual method of prayer 80 

— visions and speech 197 

precautions against placing faith in 200 

three classes of w 198 

Teaching and preaching, conclusions regarding 191 

Temptations of the devil 131 

last for years 132 

Time of true and false ecstasy 90 

Times of spiritual dryness 81 

Vision of eternal beatitude 53 

Visions and revelations, renowned 210 

— conditions for accepting 211 

— God's use of 210 

Wisdom, elevation of faith due to the gift of 26 

— faith perfected in 29 

Wounds caused by love 101 



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